Delhi AH 962 rupee
This specimen was lot 541 in Stephen Album sale 50 (Santa Rosa, CA, September 2024), where it sold for $960. The catalog description[1] noted, "DELHI: Sikandar III, 1554-1555, AR rupee, NM, AH962, several banker's marks on the edge only, bold strike, nearly XF, RR." The sultans of Delhi struck an extensive series of gold coins (Fr-402 thru Fr-502) starting about AH 589 (1193 AD). Most of the rulers had very short tenures but Mohammad III survived twenty-six years (AH 725-752). Sher Shah was not a sultan of Delhi but an Afghan warrior who built an empire over much of Delhi's former territory. He defeated the Mughals in 1540 but was killed at the siege of Kalinjar fort in 1545. He is credited with introducing the rupee to replace the tanka. Wikipedia comments,
"Sikandar Shah Suri (died 1559) was the last ruling Sultan of Hindustan from the Suri dynasty from February 1555 until his defeat on 22 June 1555, and the second-to-last ruler of the Suri dynasty. His defeat by Humayun and loss of Delhi marked the end of the Suri dynasty's 15-year rule over the throne of Hindustan, although the Suris continued to rule the eastern portions of the empire for another year."
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: silver, this specimen 11.34 g.
Catalog reference: G-D1150.
- Album, Stephen, Checklist of Islamic Coins, 3rd Ed. Santa Rosa, Stephen Album Rare Coins, 2011.
- [1]Album, Stephen, Joseph Lang, Paul Montz, Michael Barry and Norman Douglas Nicol, Auction 50, featuring selections from the Dr. Robert A. Rosenfeld Collection, the Hakim Hamidi Collection, the Almer H. Orr III Collection and the Solar Collection, Santa Rosa, CA: Stephen Album Rare Coins, Inc., 2024.
Link to:
- Delhi AH 950 rupee, Satgaon mint
- Mughal Empire AH 962 shahrukhi, Lahore mint, Humayun
- Delhi AH 961 rupee = 1553; Narnol mint
- Coins and currency dated 1554