Sale: Triton IX, Lot: 1694. Estimate $10000.  Closing Date: Monday, 9 January 2006.  Sold For $10000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

INDIA, Mughal Empire. Nur al-Din Muhammad Jahangir. 1605-1628. AV Square Sawai Mohur (13.50 g, 6h). Agra mint. Dated AH 1019; RY 5 (1610/11 AD); month Isfandarmuz (February). "In [the month of] Isfandarmuz this coin of Agra [was] struck in gold" regnal year below / "[for] the Supreme Sovereign of the Age, Shah Jahangir, son of Akbar Padisahah"; AH date below, on both sides the calligraphic legends placed on a field of spiral florets, surrounded by a polylobe garnished with leaf sprays and flowers, all within a dotted square. Jain 30; Wright 564; cf. Hull 1444 (rupee); cf. BMC 432 (same); cf. KM 160.1 (same). Good VF. One of the masterpieces of Mughal coin design. Possibly the third example known. ($10,000)

At the beginning of his reign Jahangir introduced a special coinage, the Jahangiri, with rupees and mohurs 20% heavier than standard. In his year 4 he increased the weight again, to 25% of standard – the Sawai. His reason for striking at these increased weights in not clear, but the subsequent confusion in the marketplace saw the new denominations quickly fall out of favor, and none appear to have been struck after year 8. Jahangir's reforms were accompanied by the introduction of some of the most magnificent calligraphic designs ever set on Indian coins, with elegant poetical couplets set amidst ornate scrollwork. Special designs were struck for each month, and at Agra round and square flans alternated each month, with examples struck to all three weight standards at different times. The square Sawai mohurs are among the rarest of these issues.