Description
British East India Company, the Bengal Presidency, Gold Mohur (12.34g, 26mm), ‘frozen’ Hijri year 1202, regnal year 19, Calcutta mint (named ‘Murshidabad’) circa 1830 AD, struck in the name of Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II. Obverse: Legend in Persian, naming the emperor and Anno Hegirae year, transliterated as “sikka zad bar haft kishwar sāya fazl ilāh hāmī dīn Muhammad shāh ‘ālam bādshāh, 1202”. Reverse: Legend as obverse, naming ‘Murshidabad’ and regnal year, transliterated as “zarb murshīdābād sanah 19 julūs maimanat mānūs”. Edge: Oblique left grain milling. Stevens-9.3; Prid-84. Light edge bump to 12h reverse and with a few minor marks, otherwise typically bold and of a paler gold colour, a late proclamation mohur type, details near Extremely Fine.
The obverse Persian legend is stated in full and has an English translation of “defender of the religion of Muhammad, Shah ‘Alam Emperor, Shadow of the divine favour, put his stamp on the seven climes”. The reverse Persian legend is stated in full and has an English translation of “struck at Murshidabad in the 19th year of his reign of tranquil prosperity”.
The Mohur was a standard gold coin of the Indian subcontinent during the early-modern period and was first minted in the 16th century, it was struck to several weight standards over time, ranging from 10.98 grams to 12.30 grams of high purity gold. During the time of Mughal Empire, the mohur was adopted and standardized with other metals, namely the silver rupee and the bronze anna, and had an exchange rate of fifteen rupees (which was struck to a weight of 11.53g of silver) to a mohur. Although an Indian coin of the Bengal Presidency, a sub-division of the British Empire in India, the Hijri year 1202 gold Mohur was one of the monetary denominations chosen by Philip Gidley King, the Governor of New South Wales, for the Australian Money Proclamation of 1800 – Australia’s first monetary system. In order to retain coinage within the Australian colonies, each ‘Proclamation coin’ was given a high face value – the Gold Mohur was revalued to One Pound Seventeen Shillings Six Pence. This is a notably high face value and approximately 7 shillings 6 pence higher than if it was spent within England, as a mohur was equivalent to approximately 30 shillings (a British India silver rupee of 11.53g of .917 silver is near equivalent to two shillings struck to a weight of 11.66g of .925).
