Arcot AH 1161/1 rupee
This specimen was lot 75027 in Stack's Bowers May 2026 World Premier Collectors Choice Auction (Costa Mesa, CA, May 2026), where it sold for $390.40. The catalog description[1] noted, "INDIA. French India. Rupee, AH 1161 Year 1 (1748). Arcot Mint. Ahmad Shah Bahadur. PCGS MS-63." This type was struck AH 1161-1167. The regnal date is bold but the AH date is not visible on this and other examples we have examined. It is fairly common. The French established a number of trading stations on the coast of India in the seventeenth century and made a serious challenge to British claims of supremacy in the eighteenth century. After a close run campaign fought during the Seven Years War, British command of the sea told and the French were defeated. Their zone of control was reduced to the trading stations they had long held, including Pondichery. Both the French and the British issued imitations of Arcot rupees.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 11.5 g, silver.
Catalog reference: KM-8.
- Michael, Thomas, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, May 2026 World Premier Collectors Choice Online Auction - Ancients, World Coins & World Paper Money, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2026.
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