| Author |
 Replies: 12 / Views: 14,615 |
|
|
New Member
United Kingdom
5 Posts |
Hi, I recently bought four very worn but rather old looking "coins" from a curio shop in Pune, India. Neither I nor the seller had any idea on their origin, and I paid a nominal price, a few pounds each I think. I have provided a front/back pic of each, and a group shot for sizing, apologies if image detail is insufficient these are the best pics I could muster, in any case there is very little detail available! A couple of the coins appear to have some form of possibly Arabic language inscribed - any Arabic speakers on here? I would welcome any info on possible origin/denomination etc - although I appreciate this is a long shot... Cheers  1A  1B  2A  2B  3A  3B  4A  4B  Edited by coinmonkey
07/10/2010 6:17 pm
|
|
|
|
Pillar of the Community
Philippines
1156 Posts |
Interesting coins, made of brass or copper? diameters? just did some changes on your pics for higher contrast    |
|
Moderator
 Australia
16817 Posts |
Indian copper coins are always tricky to identify. They were struck using dies that were much larger than the coins themselves, so important details such as names, dates and mint-symbols are often completely missing from the coins. These are my best guesses as to what you've got.
#1: the script on this coin is Devanagari, not Arabic, so this coin will be from one of the Hindu states.
#2: This one's definitely Arabic, from the Sultanate of Dehli, dating from sometime around 1350-1400 AD. I'm afraid I haven't been able to read any date on it to narrow it down any further than that.
I believe #3 and #4 are essentially the same coin type, just showing slightly different areas of the die. I think it's a Maratha Confederacy half-paisa from the mid-1700s.
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
|
|
New Member
 United Kingdom
5 Posts |
Thanks Nic - the final image in particular is a definite improvement on the original. As Sap says - I also believe the coins are mainly copper. Diameters are variable - around 17-20mm. Sap - really useful info, many thanks. I have done some more digging based on this and have found the following half Paisa image which bears remarkable similarity to 3A and may well be the same coin.  1630-1680 AD Maratha Dynasty Copper, half Paisa, commonly known as Shivrai Minted at Satara Weight: 8.8 gm Reference: KM#265 ( http://www.nupam.com/maratha1.html)Not sure if I agree coin 4 is also a half Paisa just yet...! Whilst it is similar to 3 in both size and composition, the design is definitely different - could the same die really produce two coins with no common features? I will try to find some more examples. I will do some more digging on coins 1 and 2 based on your info - thanks again. |
|
New Member
United Kingdom
5 Posts |
For an easier comparison... very similar indeed.  |
|
Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21786 Posts |
When I was in India some years ago, I bought five similar coins under similar circumstances, that is, I did not really know what I was buying, and the seller did not really know what he was selling. I still have them. Even my Indian friends in Oz, who in no way are numistmatists, (er, coin experts?) could not accurately identify them. I do know that they native state pieces, and Krause is of some help.
The big problem for me, although I did not know it at the time, is that I was lucky to get them out if India, although they are very common and of little value. The problem is that Indian customs officials can be very officious. One poor Aussie tourist a couple of years ago bought about 20 silver native states rupees. His baggage was checked before leaving India. The coins were confiscated and he was jailed for 6 months. Makes me feel lucky that my nearly worthless coins were not discovered....!
|
|
New Member
United Kingdom
5 Posts |
Sap, I found the following coin listed on ebay - listed as a 1 Paisa coin (item 120592159120). I believe it may be 4B - although not sure about the reverse... what do you reckon?  |
|
New Member
United Kingdom
5 Posts |
And here is another example of a coin listed as a 1 Paisa coin - this time with some striking similarity to side 4A but not 4B!  hmmm... |
|
Pillar of the Community
Philippines
1156 Posts |
That's odd, the coins have one side correctly referenced, but the other side is referenced to another different coin.  anyway still very nice coins! |
|
New Member
India
16 Posts |
hi
coins #1,#3, #4 are indeed maratha dynasty coins belonging to the great ruler chhatrapati shivaji maharaj who established a hindu state when entire country was under muslim rule.though born of poor perentage and deprived of proper education he established a indipendent kingdom with his own struggle and strength
on one side of the coin is witten "shri raje shiv" and other side "chhtrapati" in devnagri script
i also belong to same state maharastra.india
coin #2 may be 1 tanka of firuz tughlug,sultans of dehli,AD 1351_1388
|
|
Pillar of the Community
Luxembourg
588 Posts |
Quote:
One poor Aussie tourist a couple of years ago bought about 20 silver native states rupees. His baggage was checked before leaving India. The coins were confiscated and he was jailed for 6 months. Didn't know about that. I have bought several times such coins over ebay in India. Thee was no problem getting these coins through mail to Luxembourg. I've also done a couple of trades where I received such coins from there. |
|
Valued Member
India
229 Posts |
yes I agree although it is illegal to export coins more than a century old I dont know if anyone has gone to jail before this particualr incident
|
|
Pillar of the Community
India
1995 Posts |
The image of the second coin is not clear, but from whatever is available, it looks like a copper coin of the Bahmani ruleruler of India,but I am not dead sure. Muhammad bin Humayun.All the others are Chatrapati Sri Sivaji type of the Marathas.
|
| |
Replies: 12 / Views: 14,615 |
|
Posted 07/11/2010 02:49 am
