Extremely Rare Fatehpur Mint Zodiac Mohur
Constellation of Varak/Mesha
Aries the Ram
CNG 105, Lot: 1121. Estimate $20000.
Sold for $25000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee. |
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INDIA, Mughal Empire. Nur al-Din Muhammad Jahangir. AH 1014-1037 / AD 1605-1627. AV Mohur (22mm, 11.86 g, 10h). Zodiac Type, Class A. Fatehpur mint. Triply dated
AH 1028,
RY 1[3], and
RY 14 (19 December AD 1618 – 14/23 October AD 1619, but struck 20 March-20/1 April AD 1619). Constellation of Varak/Mesha (Aries the Ram): ram, head right, recumbent left; radiate sun behind;
sanat 14 jalus (
regnal year 14) in Persian below /
sikka-e zar gist ba-Fatahpur faruzada nur-i nam Jahangir Shah Akbar Shah (
Gold coin became lustrous at Fatehpur by the light of the name of Jahangir Shah [son of] Akbar Shah) in Persian verse; AH date in lower left. Liddle Type G-76 = S. Bhandare, “Important Indian coins in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna,” in
ONS Journal 205 (Autumn 2010), Fig. 11 (electroype used for illustration) = KM 180.2 (illustration) = Zeno 143113 = Berlin Münzkabinett, inv. 18248179 (same rev. die); BM –; Wright –; Hull –; Nagpur –; Lucknow –; cf. Friedberg 762 (for type with no distinction to mint). Good VF, field marks, two shroff marks on obverse, three on reverse, with ornate suspension loop attached. Extremely rare, one of apparently two known.
Ex Classical Numismatic Group 102 (18 May 2016), lot 1310.
The reverse of the Berlin example, lacking the shroff marks of our coin, reveals that the die was dated RY 13 – located below the word nur and with the number 3 almost completely obliterated by a shroff mark. This die was paired with an Agra mint obverse die (cf. Triton XIX, lot 2399) to strike this extremely rare mohur. The two known examples are struck from two obverse and one reverse dies.
Owing to an epidemic of plague in Agra, Jahangir encamped at Fatehpur during AH 1028 (see S.H. Hodivala, “The Chronology of the Zodiacal Coins of Jahangir”, NC 1929, p. 306). As recounted in his autobiography, the Tuzuk-e Jahangiri, Jahangir entered Fatehpur on the 28th Di, RY 13 (18 January AD 1619) and remained there until 31 Farwardin, RY 14 (20/1 April 1619). According to the Solar Hijri calendar, four zodiacal signs cover the period during which Jahangir resided in Fatehpur. The last of these, Varak/Mesha (Aries the Ram), refers to the month of Farwardin, enabling us to date this coin to that month. Given that the obverse corresponds with the month of Jahangir’s departure from Fatehpur, and the extreme rarity of this mohur type from that mint, it is quite possible that these coins were struck in conjunction with the emperor’s departure from Fatehpur, and were presented to those members of the local elite who had accommodated Jahangir during his stay.
