I like the design of the coin. I've wandered through the World Catalog of Coins from 1600 to 1947 and could not find a design in Princely States or Independent states that looks like this one. Could I have the wrong area of the world? richie
You're right, of course Spock, but the design does look "modern" to me. I did try looking for it in coin libraries and action sites on the webb. However, there is a real dearth of copper and bronze coin examples! richie
I think I found some of the answer of this coin. This is the reverse of a paisa coin minted in Gwalior Fort.
unfortunately, this is the obverse. No date was provided. But it would appear to be a 19th century coin. It is in the Fitizwilliam museum collection. The weight and size of the two coins is close to identical. Good enough for Government work, right? richie
Richie - I know absolutely nothing about these coins. But the one you posted and the one at the Fitzwilliam are not the same.
Take another look at the one I posted as the obverse. It is upside down. It is that "obverse" and the reverse of the Fitzwilliam coin that is the same. richie
OK - I've saved your pic and the others. I rotated the others to match the orientation of your coin because it was easier. You look and tell me -
The side in which there is a match depicts the mint of the coin: Gwalior Fort. What a sweet place that is too. Definitely worth visiting and a lot less touristed than say Jaipur. My hope is that our resident experts in Coin Talk might bring some light into this discussion. How many rulers in Gwalior's history survived for longer than ten years? I suspect that one of them minted this coin. Why keep one side the same and change the other? Perhaps the mint liked their design so much that they kept it the same from ruler to ruler. I don't know. I do know after looking at 3,000 pictures of hammered coins that there is an incredible variety of them, even within sub types of Feudal States. And Gwalior was more prolific than most. richie
They do look similar but as Doug says & I agree they are not the same coin, very nice though Richie I allways have trouble trying to figure out what is the right way round for them LOL
The squiggly line that forms a 45 degree line on one of the sides of both coins is an abstract sword; the indicator that this was minted in Gwalior Fort. Does the 11 represent the 11th year of Shah Alam II (1759 to 1806)? That would make the coin approximately 1770. Gwalior silver coins pay nominal homage to Shah Alam II, one of the last of the Moghul rulers. Or does the 11 stand for the 11th year of the Rao of Gwalior? And which Rao would that be?
Daulat Rao: 1794 to 1827 Jankoji Rao: 1827 - 1843 Jayaji Rao: 1843 to 1886 or even Mahadji Rao: 1761 to 1794 I don't understand why the duplications of my replies occured. They seemed to happen while I was typing a reply. richie
Just going by the memory, I think the sword was privy mark for Jayaji Rao only. Some of the other rulers from this state had "bow and arrow" and "pistol" privy marks. In most of the princely state coins, the obverse has name of the ruling king in Delhi. So, most of these coins look same on one side with exception of privy mark (i.e. state identification mark). Both coins posted above looks like have name of mughal emperor "Shah Alam II". On reverse there is always mint name where the coin is minted. I think for Gwalior state there were at least 5-6 mints operating at that time. So, even if you are looking at two coins from same king and state, there is a possibility that reverse legends may be different. On the coin in question, if you rotate the image at 90 degree, the two '1' will look like two Persian 'Za's. So, the partial reading will be "Zarb Za.." which means "struck at Za.. or Ja...". Now we need to find if there was a mint in Gwalior state starting with 'Za' or 'Ja'. I will check my reference books later this week to see if I can find anything more... Regards, Ballabh Garg
So, I confused a privy mark with a mint mark and the number 1 for a letter z? YIKES! And that after hours of careful study! Imagine what a first impression would have rendered? richie
