Sale: CNG 70, Lot: 1173. Estimate $500.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 21 September 2005.  Sold For $300. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

INDIA, Mughal Empire. Nur al-Din Muhammad Jahangir. 1605-1628. AR Zodiac Rupee (11.20 g, 9h). Ahmadabad mint. Dated AH 1027, RY 13 (1617 AD). Cancer (the Crab) zodiacal symbol with two stars and regnal year / Legends with titles of Jahangir, AH date, and mint. KM 150.10; Wright 634; Hull 1475. VF, toned. Probably an original strike. ($500)

The emperor Jahangir struck a remarkable series of figural type rupees and mohurs, unprecedented for a Muslim prince. Besides extremely rare portrait pieces, he instituted a series of Zodiacal types, each one to be struck in the corresponding month. The obverse dies were reused from year to year, while new dated reverses were produced for each subsequent issue. In addition, special specimen strikes were apparently produced for important visitors to the Mughal court, each person receiving a coin with his own zodiacal symbol. These Zodiac presentation coins continued to be struck for the Mughal Empire until the final dissolution of the empire in the nineteenth century. Many of the types, both original and restrikes, are extremely rare.