The Uniform Coinage of India, East India Company, William IV, gold ‘specimen’ Mohur, 1835, Calcutta, bust left, no initials on truncation, william iiii , king . and date with stop to right, rev. lion walking left, palm-tree behind, east india company above, one mohur, yek ashrafi in exergue, edge grained, 11.67g/12h (Prid. – [not in Sale]; SW 1.15a; cf. KM. 451.1; F 1593; cf. Fore III, 2454). Tiny die flaw on neck, obverse about extremely fine, reverse extremely fine with sharp rims and retaining original brilliance, very rare £5,000-£6,000

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Puddester Collection.

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Collection

Sir John Wheeler Collection, Baldwin Auction 22 (London), 2 May 2000, lot 200 [from Spink March 1981].

Owner’s ticket and envelope.

Mohurs without the signature of a mint master on the truncation of the bust have generally been given to Bombay in the past on account of there being no sede vacante in that position at Calcutta at the time these coins were struck (cf. Pridmore p.27 and lot 8, Wheeler lot 200). However, the inclusion of a stop to the right of the date on the Wheeler coin, and others noted (Fore III, 2454, Album 35, 335) would seem to infer strongly that they are Calcutta mint products, as noted by Stevens and Weir. It seems a possibility that the very first currency mohurs struck at Calcutta lack initials on the truncation, in the manner of the majority of the extant 1834-5 patterns