The Puddester Collection (Part I)

East India Company, Bengal Presidency, Calcutta Mint: First milled issue, gold Mohur in the name of ‘Shah ‘Alam II (1173-1221h/1759-1806), frozen year 1202h and regnal yr 19 [1790-3], naming Murshidabad, sikka zad bar haft kishwar saya fazl ilah hami din muhammad shah alam badshah [defender of the religion of Muhammad, Shah ‘Alam emperor, shadow of the divine favour, put his stamp on the seven climes], two pellets in top line and no secret privy marks in lower line, rev. zarb murshidabad sanah 19 julus maimanat manus [struck at Murshidabad in the 19th year of his reign of tranquil prosperity], edge grained right, 28mm, 12.38g/12h (Prid. 61 [Sale, lot 576]; Stevens 4.1, and 5.54, this coin illustrated [as Dacca]; KM. 102; F 1536). Extremely fine and on an unusually large flan, rare [certified and graded NGC MS 63] £1,000-£1,200

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

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Collection

A Parcel of East India Company Issues for Bengal, Glendining Auction (London), 3-4 October 1988, lot 504, recté Prid. 61
Sir John Wheeler Collection, Baldwin Auction 22 (London), 2 May 2000, lot 143, recté Prid. 61.

Owner’s ticket and envelope.

Ascribed to Dacca by previous cataloguers of this coin interpreting the central pellet in the extreme left side group as being indicative of that mint’s secret privy mark, when it is a standard feature.

A major report about the state of the coinage in Bengal, conducted in 1789, concluded that the way forward would be to produce coins using machinery. Accordingly plant was acquired and, after a few trial strikes were produced in copper, the first gold coins were minted in August 1790. Silver coins proved more difficult as the blanks continued to be hand-prepared, so the first milled rupees did not appear until 1792 and the first milled copper coins were made in 1795