Afghanistan AH 1234/1 rupee
This specimen was lot 728 in Stephen Album sale 39 (Santa Rosa, CA, January 2021), where it sold for $2,880. The catalog description[1] noted,
"DURRANI: Sultan 'Ali, 1818-1819, AR rupee, Kabul, AH1234 year one (ahad), this is the first confirmed specimen for Sultan 'Ali (another reference remains unconfirmed), with the king 's name and dated in the lower part of the couplet (still only partly deciphered, referring to gold like the sun and silver like the moon in the upper part of the couplet), VF-EF, RRRR. Kabul was seized by the Barakzay Dost Muhammad Khan after the death of Mahmud Shah in AH1233, but instead of striking coins in his own name, first struck posthumous coins of Mahmud later that year, then installed Sultan Ali by the end of 1233. However, Dost Muhammad was forced out of Kabul by his half brother Muhammad 'Azim at some point in 1234, and Muhammad 'Azim detained Sultan Ali and installed Ayyub Shah as the nominal king at Kabul (Sultan Ali was arrested and shortly afterwards executed). Muhammad 'Azim had already raised Ayyub Shah on the Durrani throne at Peshawar in 1233, which explains why Peshawar rupees inscribed "year one" are dated AH1233 and 1234, rupees of Kabul with "year one" dated 1234 and 1235!"
The Durranis or Saddozais established themselves in Afghanistan in the 1750's but had lost large chunks of their empire during the reign of Shah Zaman. Dost Muhammad, founder of the Barakzais, was originally the power behind the throne but in 1819 decided to seize the throne for himself. This set up a three way conflict between him, his half brother and the remnants of the Durranis. Each set themselves up in a city and issued coins. Sultan Ali was a Durrani and a puppet of Dost Muhammed who ruled so briefly that no coins of his are mentioned in the SCWC.
Recorded mintage: unknown but scarce.
Specification: silver, this specimen 10.35 g.
Catalog reference: A-3134S.
- Album, Stephen, Checklist of Islamic Coins, 3rd Ed. Santa Rosa, Stephen Album Rare Coins, 2011.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- [1]Album, Stephen, Joseph Lang, Paul Montz, Michael Barry and Norman Douglas Nicol, Auction 39, featuring the John Sylvester, Jr., Collection of Annamese Medals and Orders, Santa Rosa, CA: Stephen Album Rare Coins, Inc., 2020.
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