MULE coins of India - A collection of extremely rare and visually striking mules

[gollada]

  A collection of extremely rare, unique and visually striking mule coins of India. 

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Sharing pictures of some of my extremely rare and interesting Mule coins of India.

These are all Two headed/tailed coins struck with either two obverse or two Reverse dies.
Note: These are not brockage or double struck errors.  Read on to find out more about these coins.

COIN DETAILS:

Coin 1:  EIC, Bombay Presidency 1804 Mule 2 Pice (1/2 Anna) struck with two Obverses (no denomination) (Pr197; KM206/KM pn6).  This coin is authenticated and graded by NGC.

Coin 2:  EIC, Bombay Presidency 1830 Mule 1/4 Anna struck with two Reverses. (PR209; unlisted in Krause).  Two reverses dated AH 1246, small letters, slightly different dies with one side having the cross bar through the balance, the other without this. Listed in Pridmore but he did not have one in his collection. Part of the David Fore Collection of British Indian Coins (Baldwin's Auction 84).  Previously auctioned at ex noble Auction July 2009.  This coin is graded as glossy semi-proof like uncirculated (see photo)

• After looking through many catalogues from various auction houses, I have only come across one other example of this coin.  Unlike the one pictured below, this second specimen is graded 'extremely fine'.  It was auctioned in India by Todywalla (auction 74 lot 467).
• The 1830 quarter anna was the first coins struck at the new Bombay mint.  The 1830 quarter anna dies were engraved locally and seems to be the work of a native engraver.  Compare any proof (or any other high grade) 1830/1832 quarter anna from Bombay Presidency to the 1833 quarter anna and you can tell the difference.  The engraving overall lacks finesse. The lettering and the details indicates, the 1830/1832 coins, seem to be a work of a non-English speaking, native engraver with little to no prior engraving experience.  Also see the attached snippet of article on Bombay Mint by Dr. Mahesh A.Kalra, Curator, The Reserve Bank of India Museum.
• Is this a trial strikes? only time will reveal.  If you compare the engravings on the 2 mule specimens to the other circulation strikes you will notices that the lines are lot thinner, including the bars of the balance.  While the lettering is similar the strokes look thinner. Also there are a number of 1830 Quarter Anna coins including this mules where the ropes of the balance are engraved as straight lines. Later issues, seem to have added details to give a braided looks to the ropes of the balance. Both sides use different dies and are of the short 'Adil' type (for info on KM# 231.1 die types see the link: KM#231.1 die types).  These subtle differences between the mule strike and the circulation strikes seems to suggest these might be the experimental draft engravings that were tried out as trial strikes, following which further refinements were made to the designs prior to striking the circulation coins.  Note: Some of the proofs are similar to these mule strikes in terms of quality of engravings. If these 2 coins are indeed trial strikes, then they probably are the first Indian machine-struck coins from native engravers.  That makes them a very significant part of the Indian numismatic history.

Coin 3:  India, Rupee with Two Obverses (no date; no denomination). It is PCGS verified and graded as MS64.  See link: PCGS Gold Shield Certificate.

Coin 4:  1713-19 Farrukhsiyar, Mule Silver Rupee, AH 1130 with Two Obverses. Bothsides "Padshah-i-bahr-o-bar"[i/] couplet. Persian legend: "Sikka zad az fazl-i-Haq bar sim o zar/ Padshah-i-bahr-o-bar Farrukhsiyar 1130" [i/]  [By the grace of the true God, struck on silver and gold, the emperor of land and sea, Farrukhsiyar 1130].
Stuck with two different dies with slight variations in fonts.
Shroff mark on one side, otherwise struck sharp with original toning almost UNC. Extremely Rare.

Coin 5:  British India, 1897 Mule Tea Garden Token with two Reverses (no dates; dual denomination: struck with two contradicting denominations)(Pridmore 119).  Assam Tea Gardens, Sagurnal (Division, Sylhet) Mule 10 and 9 pice (1897) in brass by R.Heaton & Sons. Good extremely fine and extremely rare.
Ex F.Pridmore (the coin came with his ticket) and Mark E.Freehill collections.

To find out more about the Tea Garden Tokens of British India, see link: The Tea Estate Tokens of British India - a brief summary

WHAT MAY HAVE CAUSED THE TWO HEADED OR TWO TAILED MULES

Mints usually carry multiple copies of obverse and reverse dies of each coin.  This type of error can only occur when the worker at the mint accidentally loads the same type of die on both the top and bottom anvil/punch.  To avoid these error some of the mints now use different sized attachments on the anvil/punch of the minting machines. 

A number of modern American mints are know to use this standard and it is, therefore, difficult to come across similar modern error in American coins.  However there are a few known examples of such errors in American coinage. See link below for a very recent example of two tailed, dual denomination Mule below:
        1.  2000 US Sacagawea Dollar and Washington Statehood Quarter Dollar


Having said that, it must be noted that majority of the modern mints (British, Australian, European, Indian etc) don't seem to use different-sized attachments for their anvil/punch.  See links:
        1.  Mike Byers Inc. - U.S. Gold Coins - Numismatic Rarities - Fine Art
        2.  Two Tailed Australian 50c (Source: Noble Auctions)


It has taken a number of years of concerted effort to hunt and procure these coins. I hope you like them.


Thanks for viewing.
 

[cmerc]

Beautiful coins!  I also have a 1804 both-side-obverse mule, but in circulated XF condition.  Unfortunately it is in my bank box, otherwise would have loved to share images. 

[gollada]

Hi cmrec,

Thanks.  Did you get the 1804 coin recently? I am just trying to get a sense or how many of these might be out there.  Also, if you have any additional information on this, please share it. 

Regards,

Gollada

[cmerc]

Hi cmrec,

Thanks.  Did you get the 1804 coin recently? I am just trying to get a sense or how many of these might be out there.  Also, if you have any additional information on this, please share it. 

Regards,

Gollada

My records say that I acquired it in Feb 2013.  It is a mule with lions-shield-1804 EIC insignia on both sides.  I graded this coin as XF- (about extremely fine); it is 30.70 mm and 10.92 g.  Catalogue reference numbers: Pridmore#197, KM#Pn6.  Sorry, don't have pics or the coin handy. 

Just out of curiosity (without expressing any support for TPGs), what is the TPG grade of your coin? 

[Vivek]

Beautiful coins!!
vivek

[gollada]

Hi cmerc,

The grading on the 1804 mule is AU53. I have not been able to measure or weigh it as it's slabbed.

Also, one interesting fact about the 1804 mule is that the Sumatra 4 Keppings also used the same Obverse design.  But these errors only showed up in the lot that was shipped to india along with the other 1804 2 pices.

As for the 1830 mule, I have a strong feeling they are a pattern trial engraved by an native engraver.  The strike is proof like with some mint red shade, however the letters and the design itself is not as clean/defined as the designs that came out of Soho mint.   Note: The Bombay mint was refitted with new machines in 1831 (This may also explain why there are no 1831 Pices).  I think after the upgrade they may have been tempted to try some locally engraved designs to see if they could do away with the dependency on British engravers or it may just be a result of experimentation from an aspiring native apprentice at the Bombay Mint.  Whatever the reason be, if it has anything to do with native engraving, then it makes this coin very special and collectible.  Very few coins engraved by natives have survived.  The 1839 Rupee that recently auctioned by Baldwin's is one such coin.  Let me know what your thoughts are on this.

I wish I could find out more about the 1831 upgrade to Bombay Mint.   

Thanks
Gollada

[gollada]

Hi Vivek,

Thanks.  I am glad you liked them. .

Regards,

Gollada

[Harry]

Gollada,

These are quite fascinating coins! I especially liked the fact that you described the process of how the error could have occurred.  I personally have not see these type of errors on British India coins.  The some what common errors are the off-center strikes and the brockage errors. 

Again, fabulous stuff and thanks for sharing.

Harry

P.S.  Welcome to WOC!

[gollada]

Hi Harry,

Thanks for the appreciation.

The Presidency era (1791-1835) is an interesting part of Indian History.  The numismatic history of the period, beautifully captures the power struggle and the role that British technology/industrialization played in the Power Shift.

Thanks to you too for painstakingly moderating this forum.  This is evolving into an important tool of research for British India coin collectors.

I, also, liked your detailed research, analysis and compilation of Anna Designs between 1903-47.

Regards,

Gollada

[Figleaf]

Having said that, it must be noted, European mints don't seem to be using different-sized attachments for their anvil/punch.  As a result quite a few contemporary euro errors of this type are known to exist. See link: http://mikebyers.com/euroset.html

Hello Gollada. The European mints I know have had presses with different attachments for obverse and reverse dies before the US mints got them. In addition, the mounting pieces are constructed so that die rotation is impossible. However, minting of euro coins is sometimes outsourced to mints I know nothing about.

I am nevertheless highly suspicious about the series shown in the link you give, because they would imply errors in multiple production runs, one for each denomination, which is pretty close to impossible, except for an error-on-demand combined with a severe lapse of security, in which case I would take the series for fantasies. Also, an ANACS certification of a non-North American coin carries little weight for me.

Peter

[gollada]

Hi Peter,

Thanks for your thoughts.  It is always good to get opinions from different camps.  It makes for a good discussion and we all leave enriched in some way or the other.

I can assure you that the coins in my possession are genuine.  They have been examined and certified by a number of reputed sources. I find it hard to believe that Pridmore, Krause, Dr. Paul Stevens, Randy Weir, David Fore, various grading companies, and Auction houses; all got it wrong in certifying these error coins (1804 & 1830 mules) as genuine.

We should not rule these out in haste without exploring all possibilities. Firstly, we do not know for sure whether the mint back then used different-sized attachments for Obverses and Reverses.  Secondly, such errors can also occur if a reverse die is accidentally engraved on an Obverse attachment or vice versa. This is what Chris Pilliod had to say about the 1859 Double-headed Indian cent, "a blank die expected to be used as an "anvil" die (the reverse of the coin and the bottom die in a coining press) was accidentally fabricated as an obverse die."  Here is another article about a similar 1859 double headed cent error http://www.coinfacts.com/patterns/1859_patterns/judd_229A.htm

Also, if you look hard enough you will be surprised how many coins with similar errors are out there.  Here is an example of a devalued example of the 2000 French 2 cents that was listed in Mike Byers website (see link in the original post) (http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-cent-euro-STRUCK-BY-2-REVERSE-DIES-ERROR-same-side-faute-mule-Fehlpragung-/251434527585?pt=US_World_Coins&hash=item3a8aaa6b61).  Since, both devalued and non-devalued examples of 2000 double-tailed French 2 cents exit, I am led to believe that these are not made-to-order errors.

There are other examples like: HA Coins, recently, auction two similar non-devalued errors (Euro cent and New Zealand cent from 1974).  The Mints we are discussing are reputable institutions and have stringent processes in place.  I don't think it would be easy to sneak out so many 'error-on-demand' coins.   

Finally, most of our assessments/opinions in this forum are solely based on the photos, i.e., without examining the coin in person.  ANACS may not be very consistent when it comes to grading non-American coins but they do employ professional graders who, I would like to assume, at the very least can tell a fake from genuine when they physically examine the coin in person.

Regards,

Gollada

[Figleaf]

Misunderstanding. My post only concerned the euro coins. Not yours.

Peter

[gollada]

Hi Peter,

Not a problem.  Hopefully this will start discussions on the European coins and we will all get to learn something out of it.

Thanks for viewing and taking the time to write.

Regards,

Gollada

[PeaceBD]

Some interesting errors and nice coins. TFS.

[gollada]

Hi Bhushan,

Thanks for the comments and for sharing your beautiful collection from time to time.  I also like the way you photograph and present your coin.  What set up do you currently have? do you use a macro lens?

Gollada