Unidentified Akbar Dam

[akona20]

Such a symbol is seen on a couple of mints from Shah Alam 11 reign. Given what saro has said time to dig out the literature and see if the coins are illustrated.

[Overlord]

here is the mirror image:

[Overlord]

We have seen a few such coins from Dogaon on this board and that would be my guess for now.

[saro]

Yes, I fully agree with you dear Overlord for Dogaon and many thanks for having posted this inverted image.

Yesterday evening I studied this coin and the best I have found is that "GA" of "Dogaon" (in fact Dogam) and may be "DO" (in center with D and O linked ?)  could be read in the original image, with some optimism...and inverted "LAM" (of dar al Islam") on the mirror image, at 11 o'clock.
The "M"  is sometimes written on these coins like a "9" (cf Mitchiner 3088 / dar al-Islam, wrongly named dar al-khalifat)
Such an obverse doesn't seem to me to have been struck with an official mughal die, and so we may doubt for the reverse..
As observed in this discussion  by Akona20, the  katar appears on very later mughal issues (Shah Alam II) and of course on many states coins (Bharatpur)

Please notice that It's just my feeling and may be I am wrong...

[akona20]

My eyes are good today and I can see what you describe. Discussion leads to decisions and on some of these it takes time to work through things.

Mitchener has not been the only one to make this mistake I am sure.

[saro]

But in the present case Mitch.3088 is right, I apologize, this Dogaon's dam clearly dated 981 is well with the epithet "dar al-khalifat".
(I looked at another when writing...)

[akona20]

Oh Okay, I was rather looking at an obscure reference that appears to have made the mistake described. Some of these coins are fun.

[rja]

Amit reported the following to me:

This morning I have received a reply from Mr Shailen Bhandare - an expert on Indian coins as follows:

 The Akbar Dam with a Katar is an imitation of the Dogaon fulus - but it is not yet certain who was resposible for it. There exists a series of such imitations, both full and half Fulus and with/without the Katar. One possibility is the Meo tribal chieftaincy which was located to the SW of Delhi and in rebellion off and on.

[Oesho]

The side with the mintname show some similarity with the Dogaon pieces.
I discussed this coin recently with Shailendra Bhandare and he agreed with it, however it is not an official issue of Dogaon, but probably a contemporary counterfeit. That may also explains the unusual motif of a katar on the side with the date.

[saro]

 For additionnal information on Dogaon's mint, in his notes on mughal mints (Calcutta museum catalogue), Nelson Wright said : " The mint seems to have been removed from Bahraîch to Dogaon to supply the copper coins required for the trade between India and Nepal".

May be "non mughal" workshops have taken this opportunity and struck copies of the Dogaon's dams?

 

[Overlord]

Andrew Liddle has illustrated a copper with the same symbol in his books. See #20 under "MYSTERIES".

[saro]

Dear Overlord, it's very nice to have spotted that  : the same "katar" symbol on another dam !
A.Liddle #20 "mystery" has also really mysterious legends, even completly different...