Madras (1820) 5 rupees Fr-1590
The first specimen was lot 35518 in Heritage sale 3038 (Dallas, January 2015), where it sold for $1,057.50. The catalog description[1] noted, "British India. Madras Presidency gold 5 Rupees ND (1820) MS62 NGC. Strong original golden luster. A seldom offered type in mint state and highly coveted." The second specimen was lot 31391 in Heritage sale 3073 (Chicago, April 2019), where it sold for $1,200. The catalog description[2] noted, "British India. Madras Presidency gold 5 Rupees (1/3 Mohur) ND (1820) MS63 NGC. A softly engraved type but here well struck, with semi-reflective fields bearing a light peach tone. Some dark spots of foreign substance are noted for completeness, but merely attest to the superb originality of this piece's surfaces." The third specimen was lot 42284 in Stack's Bowers NYINC sale (New York, January 2023), where it sold for $1,020. The catalog description[1] noted, "INDIA. Madras Presidency. 1/3 Mohur (5 Rupees), ND (1820). Madras Mint. NGC MS-61." This type was struck in Madras for the British East India Company. Friedberg lists this as a half mohur; a mohur was equal in weight to the rupee but gold.
Recorded mintage: 2,179,573.
Specification: 3.88 g, gold.
Catalog reference: KM 422, Fr-1590, Prid-244.
- Friedberg, Arthur L. and Ira S. Friedberg, Gold Coins of the World, From Ancient Times to the Present, 9th ed., Clifton, NJ: Coin and Currency Institute, 2017.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- [1]Bierrenbach, Cristiano, Warren Tucker and Scott Cordry, Heritage Signature Auction 3038, featuring the Empire, the Santa Catarina, the Law and the Santa Maria Collections, Dallas, TX: Heritage Auction Galleries, 2014.
- [2]Bierrenbach, Cristiano and Warren Tucker, Heritage World and Ancient Coins Auction 3073, featuring the Lake County Collection of British coins, Dallas, TX: Heritage Auction Galleries, 2019.
- [3]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, The January 2023 NYINC Auction: Ancient Coins, World Coins & Paper Money, featuring the Taraszka Collection and the Mark and Dottie Salton Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2022.
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