Triton XIV, Lot: 1370. Estimate $1000. Sold for $1300. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

INDIA, Mughal Empire. Aziz al-Din Alamgir II. AH 1167-1173 / 1754-1759. AR Rupee (22mm, 11.28 g, 5h). Balot Merta mint. Dated Fasli Era 1166; RY 3 (AD 1756). Persian couplet citing Aziz al-Din Alamgir II in six lines; Fasli era date above / Mint and RY formula in six lines. Cf. KM 176 (Jodhpur), otherwise unpublished in the standard references. Good VF, area of flat-strike . Extremely rare.

Fasli is a chronological system devised by the Mughal emperor Akbar for land revenue purposes in northern India, for which the Muslim lunar calendar was inconvenient. Fasli (“harvest”) is derived from the Arabic term for “division,” which in India was applied to the groupings of the seasons. The Era was introduced into the Maratha Region in 1637-1638. To convert the Fasli year to the Christian it is necessary to add 590 (e.g. Fasli year 1166 + 590 = A.D. 1756). This rare coin must have been issued after Mirta was handed over, in accordance with the treaty of Nagore of 2nd February 1756, to Bijay Singh. Until then Mirta had, from the 17 September 1754, been occupied by the Marathas. This is the second known specimen of this coin so far.