Sale: Triton VIII, Lot: 1634. Estimate $400.  Closing Date: Monday, 10 January 2005.  Sold For $340. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

INDIA. Mughal Emperors. Muhammad Shah. 1719-1748. AR Nazarana Rupee (11.33 gm, 9h). Shahjahanabad (Dehli) mint. Dated AH 1135, RY 5 (1722/23 AD). Titles of Muhammad Shah and AH date; border of widely spaced pellets / Regnal year and mint; border of widely spaced pellets. KM 437B.2; Wright -; cf. Hull 2101 (year 1109); MWI -. VF, a few punch marks on edge. Rare early nazarana issue. ($400)

The nazarana or "gift" coins are struck to the standard weight of the silver rupee or gold mohur, but on specially prepared broad and round flans, so that the complete legends and borders are visible, features never seen on regular circulation strikes. The later Mughal rulers were the first to produce this coinage as presentation pieces to courtiers, but in the post-Mughal period these grand medallic coins became symbols of sovereignty for the Indian princes, at a time when their autonomy was being circumscribed by the British Raj.