The Puddester Collection (Part I)

East India Company, Bombay Presidency, Later coinages: Moghul style, gold Mohur, Surat, 1800-15 issue, in the name of Shah ‘Alam II (1173-1221h/1759-1806), frozen regnal year 46, sikka mubarak badshah ghazi shah alam [The auspicious coin of the victorious emperor Shah Alam], privy mark 1, rev. zarb surat sanah 46 julus maimanat manus [Struck at Surat in the 46th year of tranquil prosperity], 11.64g/6h (Prid. 250 [Sale, lot 517]; Stevens 6.156; KM. 214; F 1553). About extremely fine [certified and graded NGC MS 63] £600-£800

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

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Collection

Bt R.C. Senior (Glastonbury, UK) March 1989.

Owner’s ticket and envelope.

The Surat 46 san Mughal style coinage in the name of Shah ‘Alam II during the period from 1800 to 1832, comprising mohurs, panchias, rupees and fractions bearing the privy marks 1 to 9, denoting the mint and the period issued, exist in a total of 34 varieties. A very difficult series to complete, over a period of 40 years Mr Puddester has managed to obtain 30 of the 34. Two of the coins missing from this collection, Prid. 268, a panchia and Prid. 283, an eighth-rupee, have not been traced by him on the market, or by the present cataloguer.

Although the fort of Surat had been captured by the British in 1759, the Nawab was left in nominal charge of the town until May 1800, when a treaty signed between the Company and the Nawab meant that management and collection of revenues of the city and neighbourhood was vested in the Company, with the Nawab paid a quarterly sum from those revenues. The Surat mint was re-organised under the mintmaster JohnJohn Church and gold and silver coins started to be struck in June 1800, although in successive years activity at the mint was questioned and even a change of management in 1806-7 failed to overcome a quality issue. The mint was closed for the production of gold and silver coins in November 1815