Sale: Triton VII, Lot: 1174. Estimate $5000.  Closing Date: Monday, 12 January 2004.  Sold For $4600. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

INDIA, Sikh Empire. Ranjit Singh. 1799-1839. AV Mohur (10.47 gm). Amritsar mint. Dated VS 1863 (1806 AD). Persian legend with rosette mintmark / Persian legend with date and pipal leaf. KM 25.3; Herrli 01.07.02. VF, coppery encrustation, small banker's drill mark. Extremely rare. ($5000)

Ranjit Singh was only 19 years old when he came to power and launched a campaign to unite the fractious Sikh sects and lay the groundwork for a military state that could resist the expanding British hegemony over India. Ranjit struck immense quantities of silver rupees to finance his operations, but his gold mohurs are of extreme rarity, as are all Sikh gold coins (none is priced in KM). There is a tale that he had seized a treasure of 20,000 gold coins when he captured Lahore in 1800, but if this treasure was recoined into Sikh mohurs no trace of it has survived. Ranjit Singh died in 1839, having been ultimately unsuccessful in stemming the British tide. The Sikh state collapsed into anarchy after his death and was no longer a significant threat.