Two Early Sikh-Related Coins

CNG 87, Lot: 1715. Estimate $1500. Sold for $3750. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

INDIA, Mughal Empire. Mu'azzam Bahadur Shah (Shah Alam I). 1707-1712. AR Rupee (22mm, 11.23 g, 3h). Dar-us-Sultanat (Lahore) mint. Dually-dated RY 4 and AH 1122 (AD 1710) . Persian couplet citing Mu’azzam Bahadur Shah in three lines; regnal year in second line / Mint formula and AH date in two lines; ☬ (Sikh khanda symbol) in second line. Wright 190 var. (date, symbol); Hull 26 var. (same); KM 347.13 (same); Saran Singh, “The First Coins of the Sikhs,” in ONS Newsletter 144 (Spring 1995), p. 8 (same dies as illustration). VF, light scuffs and schroff marks.

The Sikh khanda symbol consists of a double-edged sword encircled by a chakram and flanked by two additional swords. Although the Mughals in Punjab were in retreat from Sikh forces, in late 1710 they still held the city of Lahore. As the city remained in imperial hands until 1758, the presence of the khanda on these rupees remains an enigma.