I got this from Rauch Auction in 2012. It was described as a AV Pagoda ND Pondicherry Mint 1714-74 French India (used for trade with Yanoan) Is this correct?
I found it in my 2002 3rd edition 18th century World coin catalog. KM#69 Pagoda, ND(1715-1774), Gold, weight-3.4g. Obverse: 3 figures with Vishu in center, Reverse: Crescent in granular field
your coin looks very much like India-British ND(1740-1807) KM#304 size-12-14 millimeters, weight-3.43g.
I concur with identification as an English East Company Madras Presidency gold pagoda. The obverse depicts three figures, Vishnu as Venkateswar and his two wives, each with a star above the head. It is sometimes referred to as the Madras three swami pagoda. There are two varieties of the three figures obverse: 1) full figures and 2) half figures. The half figures obverse is cataloged as KM# 304, Pridmore 3B, and Stevens 1.4. The full figures obverse is not listed in KM, but is otherwise cataloged as Pridmore 3A and Stevens 1.3. An issue is that the description in the Krause catalog for KM# 304 says "three 1/2 figure deities" and "Prid#3B", but the accompanying photo is not of a half figures obverse but of a full figures obverse and similar to the photo shown for 3A in Pridmore. The photo of Panzerman's coin shows it is closer to a full figures obverse. Thus I would say it is Pridmore 3A and Stevens 1.3 and not listed in Krause. I question the Pondicherry location. Pondicherry was a French settlement on the east coast of India although for short periods it did fall under British control. Pritchard says these coins were minted at either Madras or Fort St. George or Fort St. David.
