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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;willieboyd2, post: 26805917, member: 4910&quot;]The Sri Lanka Great Basses Mughal India Aurangzeb shipwreck treasure </p><p><br /></p><p>This 1961 find was the basis for Arthur C. Clarke&#039;s 1964 book <i>The Treasure of the Great Reef</i>. </p><p><br /></p><p>A large number of Mughal silver rupees were found near Sri Lanka (Ceylon) in 1961 by underwater treasure hunters. </p><p><br /></p><p>One of the group was the science-fiction author Arthur C. Clarke who lived in Sri Lanka at the time and would sometimes dive with the two finders. He wrote a book about the adventure titled <i>The Treasure of the Great Reef</i> which was published in 1964. </p><p><br /></p><p>American divers were diving near the Great Basses reef southeast of Sri Lanka in March of 1961 and discovered the wreck, cannons, and thousands of silver rupees, some loose and some in clumps of coins fused together. </p><p><br /></p><p>Because of the local ocean currents and weather, divers could only dive to the Great Basses reef during one month of the year. The divers and Clarke returned to the wreck in 1963 and brought up more items. </p><p><br /></p><p>The ship was later identified as a trading ship belonging to the Emperor Aurangzeb which was sunk around AD 1703. Aurangzeb was the last great Mughal emperor of India who ruled from AH 1068 to 1118 (AD 1658 to AD 1707). The ship was not a British East India Company or Dutch trading ship. </p><p><br /></p><p>The rupees were fresh from the Surat mint and all were dated with the Moslem year AH 1113 (AD 1701/1702). All of the writing on the coins was in Persian, the language of the Mughals, using modified Arabic script. The coins also had the regnal year (the year of Aurangzeb&#039;s reign) of 45 or 46. </p><p><br /></p><p>The rupees in the clumps were mostly not exposed to sea water and kept their original weights of around 11.4 grams and as the clumps contained around 1000 coins the clumps weighed 11.4 kilograms or 25 pounds. </p><p><br /></p><p>Clarke sent one clump to the US Smithsonian Museum and the other clumps were distributed to other places. One clump was used as a prop on the television series Pawn Stars episode &quot;Shocking Chum&quot;. </p><p><br /></p><p>&quot;The Taj Mahal Sunken Treasure&quot; name was added later in an effort to sell some of the rupees to the public </p><p><br /></p><p>In March 2021 I acquired a copy of Arthur Clarke&#039;s book and read it. </p><p><br /></p><p>I had to have one of the Clarke treasure rupees. </p><p><br /></p><p>On April 1, 2024 I purchased one which had been marketed by &quot;The Taj Mahal Sunken Treasure&quot;. This coin came with certificates of authenticity and a DVD with some short films including interviews with Arthur C. Clarke and the treasure finders. </p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://www.brianrxm.com/posts/post_mughal_rupee_aurangzeb_1113_surat_treasure.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /> </p><p>Mughal Rupee, Aurangzeb, Surat, AH 1113 (AD 1701/1702) Regnal Year 46</p><p>Silver, 24 mm, 10.14 gm</p><p><br /></p><p>Obverse: Three horizontal lines of text</p><p>Line 1: Shah Aurangzeb Alamgir (King, Ornament of the Throne, Conqueror of the World)</p><p>Line 2: Sikkah Munir Badr Cho Zad (Coin struck like shining full moon)</p><p>Line 3: Dar Jahan (In the world)</p><p>The AH (Islamic) year &quot;1113&quot; is on the obverse top.</p><p><br /></p><p>Reverse: Three horizontal lines of text</p><p>Line 1: Manus Maimanat (Associated tranquil prosperity)</p><p>Line 2: Sanat 46 Julus (Year 46 of his reign)</p><p>Line 3: Zarb Surat (Struck Surat)</p><p>(Struck Surat in year 46 of his reign associated with tranquil prosperity)</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie1" alt=":)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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