Kutch 1943/VS 2000 adhio
The Indian Princely State of Kutch is located in a flat expanse of salt marshlands on the western border of India along the Arabian Sea. Partly due to its geographic isolation, Kutch was able to maintain a unique coinage system from its beginnings through to independence from the British in 1947. The first Kutch coins were modelled after those of Nawanagar, from which Kutch officially gained its autonomy in 1617 AD. This was also the year that Kutch obtained the rights to produce coinage in the name of its own rulers.
This specimen was lot 2246 in Stephen Album sale 27 (Santa Rosa, CA, January 2017), where it sold for $164.50. The catalog description[1] noted, "KUTCH: Vijayarajjii, 1942-1948, AE adhio (½ kori), 1943//VS1999. Also citing George VI, very scarce so nice, NGC graded MS64 RB." One adhio = 4 dhabu = half kori.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specifications: copper.
Catalog reference: KM Y80.
- Bright, Richard, The Coinage of Kutch, Dallas, TX: Numismatics International, 1975.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1901-2000, 47th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- [1]Album, Stephen, Joseph Lang, Paul Montz, Michael Barry and Norman Douglas Nicol, Auction 27, featuring the Dr. Paul Stevens Collection of Indian Coins, Part VI, Santa Rosa, CA: Stephen Album Rare Coins, Inc., 2016.
Link to: