The Puddester Collection (Part I)

East India Company, Bombay Presidency, Early coinages: Mughal style, gold Third-Mohur or Panchia in the name of ‘Alamgir II (1167-73h/1754-9), Mumbai, 1188h, fictional yr 9 [1774-5], sikka mubarak badshah ghazi alamgir [The auspicious coin of the victorious emperor Alamgir], rev. zarb munbai sanah 9 julus maimanat manus [Struck at Mumbai in the 9th year of his reign of tranquil prosperity], 3.83g/1h (Prid. 10, recté Third-Mohur [not in Sale]; Stevens 7.1 [Malabar Coast]; KM. –; F 1548). Very fine with red tone, very rare £2,000-£2,600

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

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Collection

Spink Auction 102 (London), 2 March 1994, lot 551.

Owner’s ticket and envelope.

The weight of the coin suggests that it circulated as a third-mohur or 5 rupees, hence the name panchia. In the south the weight corresponded closely to a pagoda, so the denomination was almost certainly used as a bridge between the two currency systems