Kuwait AH 1304 baiza
This specimen was lot 1137 in Stephen Album sale 47 (Santa Rosa, CA, September 2023), where it sold for $24,000. The catalog description[1] noted, "KUWAIT: Abdullah II b. Sabah II Al-Sabah, 1866-1892, AE baiza, al-Kuwait, AH1304 (1886/87), tughra seal of the Sheikh // mint/date formula, better than average strike, NGC graded VF25 BN, RRR.
Sheikh Abdullah ordered the minting of a copper coin, known at that time as the Kuwaiti baiza (paisa) in 1886, due to the lack of Indian copper coins circulating in the local economy. The primitive, crude, hammered coins were locally produced. According to Kuwaiti Islamic coin specialist M. Al-Hoseini, the person overseeing the minting operation was a senior member of the prominent Bodi tribe. Very few coins were produced, with up to 4 possible types with notable distinctions in the text, design, and even planchet thickness. They circulated for several weeks, but the coinage was short lived."
This baiza (named after the paisa of India) comes in two types, both rare. It is the only coinage of this state in the nineteenth century.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: copper.
Catalog reference: KM-1.
- 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 47, Santa Rosa, CA: Stephen Album Rare Coins, Inc., 2023.
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