Shah Alam II Rupee, KM# 710, pseudo Dar al-Khilafat Shahjahanabad mint.

[PeaceBD]

Shah Alam Rupee identified as KM-710 on the dealers tag. Mint-Shahjahanabad. AH 1203 RY 31. This coin does not match the plate coin in SCWC for KM# 710 or 709.2 which are the closest in representation.  The parasol and mint marks also do not match KM# 710.
Please help with the attribution and let me know your opinion on the coin.



Thanks
Bhushan
 

[asm]

There is something wrong which I can not pin point right away. The date on the coin reads 1231 or 1232 - the last letter is a bit dicey. 123x would be well outside the reign of Shah Alam II but the small part of the name definitely seems to read Shah Alam II. RY 31 of Shah Alam II would be more like 1203 or so.

Could be a state issue or...

Amit

[PeaceBD]

There is something wrong which I can not pin point right away. The date on the coin reads 1231 or 1232 - the last letter is a bit dicey. 123x would be well outside the reign of Shah Alam II but the small part of the name definitely seems to read Shah Alam II. RY 31 of Shah Alam II would be more like 1203 or so.

Could be a state issue or...

Amit

Amit, you bring up a very good point. The zero is missing in the AH date. The coin weighs 11.26 gm. The ornamentation on the coin also differs. I am hoping this is a State issue. The coin was bought from Stephen Album.

Thanks
Bhushan

[Oesho]

The date on the coin must be intended for AH1203/Ry.31. However this is, what I call, a pseudo Dar al-Khilafat Shahjahanabad mint. It was not struck at the Imperial mint of the capital Shahjahanabad.
An example of an Imperial issue can been seen on ZENO.
Where these coins were struck it still a question on which no documentation has been found, nor consensus has been reached.
I my opinion it must be in a locality east of the Jamuna. There are a few candidates, like the village Ahmedabad (a mint found on coins of Bedar Bakht) between Meerut and Sardhana and also Sardhana would be possible (the capital of Begum Somru. She struck also rupees with the mint name Dar al-zafar Zebabad). The strongest candidate for me is Meerut.
Below a couple of rupees with the mint name Dar al/Khilafat Shahjahanabad.
1124-31, this date must be 1204/Ry.31. The coin was struck after the re-installation of Shah Alam II, but still without the Imperial umbrella. Another possibility is that it wasn´t struck at the Imperial mint.
1203-31, this is an issue of pseudo Dar al-Khilafat Shahjahanabad mint and this coin is similar to the coin of Bhushan shown above.
1205-33, this is an Imperial issue, struck at the capital.
1205-33, with symbol Ain added. A typical issue of a pseudo Dar al-Khilafat Shahjahanabad mint.
12xx-38, with symbol He added, also a typical issue of a pseudo Dar al-Khilafat Shahjahanabad mint.

[PeaceBD]

The date on the coin must be intended for AH1203/Ry.31. However this is, what I call, a pseudo Dar al-Khilafat Shahjahanabad mint. It was not struck at the Imperial mint of the capital Shahjahanabad.
An example of an Imperial issue can been seen on ZENO.
Where these coins were struck it still a question on which no documentation has been found, nor consensus has been reached.
I my opinion it must be in a locality east of the Jamuna. There are a few candidates, like the village Ahmedabad (a mint found on coins of Bedar Bakht) between Meerut and Sardhana and also Sardhana would be possible (the capital of Begum Somru. She struck also rupees with the mint name Dar al-zafar Zebabad). The strongest candidate for me is Meerut.
Below a couple of rupees with the mint name Dar al/Khilafat Shahjahanabad.
1124-31, this date must be 1204/Ry.31. The coin was struck after the re-installation of Shah Alam II, but still without the Imperial umbrella. Another possibility is that it wasn´t struck at the Imperial mint.
1203-31, this is an issue of pseudo Dar al-Khilafat Shahjahanabad mint and this coin is similar to the coin of Bhushan shown above.
1205-33, this is an Imperial issue, struck at the capital.
1205-33, with symbol Ain added. A typical issue of a pseudo Dar al-Khilafat Shahjahanabad mint.
12xx-38, with symbol He added, also a typical issue of a pseudo Dar al-Khilafat Shahjahanabad mint.

Jan, thanks a lot for this awesome explanation as well as all the pictures of all the examples. Without that explanation I would have not even guessed the history and intriguing background on these coins. I have always wondered about the various types of "chatars" -imperial umbrellas used on these coins.
So with the coin posted above I guess we will probably never know where it was minted.

Thanks
Bhushan