Extremely Rare Balkh Mint Mohur from the Final Days of Mughal Control

Triton XVII, Lot: 1046. Estimate $5000. Sold for $11000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

INDIA, Mughal Empire. Shihab al-Din Muhammad Shah Jahan. AH 1037-1068 / AD 1627-1658. AV Mohur (20mm, 10.90 g, 8h). Balkh mint. Dated RY 20 (AD 1647). Shahada within knotted frame; oaths of Rashidun in outer margins / Name and title of Shah Jahan within knotted frame; continuation of legend and mint formula in outer fields; RY date below “shah”. Wright –; Hull –; KM Type 260 (mint unlisted); Baldwin’s 47, lot 719 (same dies). Good VF, toned. Extremely rare mint from the northernmost limits of the Mughal Empire.

On the border between the Mughal Empire and Safavid Iran, the city of Balkh periodically changed hands as both powers fought for controlof Central Asia. Ironically, it was the Safavid shah Tahmasp I who helped the Mughal emperor Humayun recover his kingdom after he had been overthrown by Sher Shah Suri. The Mughals since that time only intermittently controlled Balkh and other Central Asian cities since they focused on their more successful conquest of India.  Shah Jahan briefly reconquered Balkh, controlling it from 1641 to 1647, when the city was finally lost to the Safavids. In their final year of holding the city, the Mughals issued extremely rare gold Mohurs, of which this is an example.  This short period represents the only issuance of Indian-type coinage by the Mughal Empire in Central Asia.