Fake Mughal token.

[Hitesh]

Going through WoC i realized that one of the coins that I have is actually a token/fake 
I have referred to the following threads:

http://www.worldofcoins.eu/forum/index.php/topic,9470.0.html

http://www.worldofcoins.eu/forum/index.php/topic,24480.0.html

My token is also the same as shown in the pictures.

I would like to ask a couple of questions regarding these:
1. Why has this particular coin(token) been struck in such a large quantity? I guess many other mughal coins also have the Shahada and such. So what makes this imitation so special? A google search throws up a number of examples of this token.

2. There seems to be some difference in the quality and make between the coins in the threads and the one that i have. Does it mean that they have been struck at different times and places? If so, then how do I guess which was struck at an earlier period and which is a modern imitation?

3. For a novice like me it is easy to be deceived as to the originality of the coin(as is the case here). I would be grateful if anyone could point out the differences between this coin(token) and the original gold struck coin(KM type 119 as said in the previous thread) other than the metal itself. I would be thankful for any other way on how to spot a fake coin.

Thank you.

[Figleaf]

I can only answer your questions partially. I hope someone else can complement my knowledge.

I suppose old coins have "status", their age giving them more respect. So how do you recognise a coin as old when you can't read the script? Because it's square and because the neighbours have one too and they agree it's old. I bet you can propose a really nice punchmarked ancient coin and people would reject it because they are unfamiliar with it, while they all know this one.

They have been made for a very long time and all over India. In due time, the imitations got lighter and contained less silver, so most of them will be bad quality silver. If you are familiar with silver coins, you will find it easy to separate good silver from low grade silver, just by looking at it.

Peter

[Hitesh]

Thank you for clearing up some things figleaf.

Can you suggest any way in which this coin would be different from any other mughal coin of that period? Maybe in the manufacturing process followed,the calligraphy etc?

I hope someone else also adds up.
Thank you.

[Hitesh]

Following up on this post.

Can anyone add some additional info here?

Thanks.

[Coinsforever]

Hitesh & Peter,

These are religious tokens not a currency which was circulated thus produced privately.

Further these religious tokens were used by mosques or dargah ( for example  Ajmer & Nizammudin etc) likewise issued by various mosques  all over India privately thus differ in sizes and design as well.


These were mostly found in copper or silver , some jewellers did used for gold as well to keep stock of gold in such forms of tokens.

Cheers 

[Hitesh]

Thanks coinsforever for your reply.

Could you also help with any of the questions mentioned above?

[Coinsforever]

[quote author=hitesh link=topic=29903.msg190843#msg190843 date=1419533896
I would like to ask a couple of questions regarding these:
1. Why has this particular coin(token) been struck in such a large quantity? I guess many other mughal coins also have the Shahada and such. So what makes this imitation so special? A google search throws up a number of examples of this token.

[/quote]

1)As explained earlier these were used by pilgrims in mosques or dargah all over India so large quantities of such tokens required to manage large pilgrims..

2) Difference is obvious due to produced privately and at different locations.

3)best way to compare between token and original mohur/rupees is persian calligraphy  other is weight,  silver /gold quality & contents.

Further is a matter of  knowledge & experience.

Cheers 

[EWC]

I suppose old coins have "status", their age giving them more respect.

Yes.  Mitchiner suggests these items emerged only in the 19th century, in good part as wedding gifts especially at Sunni weddings.  It was a time when many of the State rupees were becoming debased, and the type suggests it is an old coin, thus from the good old days when rupees were pure silver

The story I heard elsewhere is also a version of the one Peter suggests - it runs:

Akbar's silver quite rightly won a reputation for purity - and so in later times people buying old coin to melt for jewellery use etc got into the habit of specifying Akbar rupees.  Inevitably as the centuries rolled by, demand began to exceed supply, and just as inevitably, fakers began to fill the gap.  Exactly why a rather rare type was chosen as the model for all the fakes is not sure, perhaps it is just that it's a distinctive design that was not used by later rulers?

Both these ideas seem plausible and indeed compatible.

Is there any hard evidence that they were issued for religious use by pilgrims?  Mitchiner suggests exactly this for the medallions picturing a mosque, but makes that a separate series

These Akbar copies tend to make a bigger effort to look like silver than the religious souvenirs....

[Coinsforever]

What Mitchiner suggests was further researched by experts and collectors and concluded that such pieces as tokens which were produced in various designs and for religious use.

Why for wedding thousands of such tokens needed ?  There were hardly few rich who afford such gifts during wedding.


Similar to these muslim tokens copied from  so called Mughal coins design.The  Hindu  tokens also exists which were copied too from Akbar coin depicting  Lord ram & sita.

Cheers 

[EWC]

What Mitchiner suggests was further researched by experts and collectors and concluded that such pieces as tokens which were produced in various designs and for religious use.

Interesting.  Why did they conclude this?

Why for wedding thousands of such tokens needed ?  There were hardly few rich who afford such gifts during wedding.

My recollection is that expensive weddings are rather common in most places - not least India

[Figleaf]

Obviously, there are many other people better placed to provide details. This is just to frame the discussion.

1. Wedding money. Weddings are steeped in monetary symbolism. Nowadays, it's mostly about huge quantities of low denomination banknotes, strung together in guirlandes or intricate patterns. In earlier days, it was about small pieces of copper that may once have been coins. They were bought by weight from wholesale metal dealers. They are mostly unidentifiable. My take is that these customs are related to the largesse money custom: if the mughal would travel, money and money-like objects would be thrown into the fawning masses as he passed by. I have read this largesse could be wafer-thin silver cowry shell imitation. I'd love to see one of those.

2. Religious ceremonies at home. Some religious festivals call for ceremonies that involve silver coins. They may be washed (in milk) and/or put in herbs and spices. The coins can be "re-cycled" for the next ceremony. Purer silver is considered better. I would fit the Akbar copies in this category.

3. Temple tokens. These are mostly el-cheapo medals of gratitude for generous gifts to the temple, not unlike prayer cards in Roman Catholic countries. Somewhere on this site is a post describing a machine in or near a temple that takes offers and dispenses such medals.

Peter

[Coinsforever]

Interesting.  Why did they conclude this?

Mitchiner work was irrelevant therefore based on their research they concluded it.

My recollection is that expensive weddings are rather common in most places - not least India

As mostly such Islamic tokens were produced during 19th century when british rule was ongoing in  India , royal weddings were mostly out of question.


I extract what Oesho has said about it here :

In my reply, 'that the Muslim religious tokens or amulets were based on the gold mohur of Akbar (see KM type 119)', I mentioned that "this type was not minted in silver". I meant to say that the type of KM#119 was not struck in silver for currency purpose. Nevertheless it was extensively copied in silver and base metals as a religious token or amulet.
By imitating a gold-type coin in base metal the producer of it could not be accused of counterfeiting, as such a coin didn't exist for currency.
This phenomenon is also observed with the 19-san coinage of the British East India Company, were they also copied the mohur for jewellers or advertisement tokens.


Cheers

[Hitesh]

Thank you everyone for your replies!

This discussion was very informative. All theories seem equally plausible to me. So it's likely that all of them might have influenced the production and popularity of this token. They might have started off as temple tokens and gained enough popularity to be used in weddings and other rituals as well.