Maratha (1762)/9 rupee KM-239
This specimen was lot 2665 in Steve Album Auction 51 (Santa Rosa, CA, January 2025), where it sold for $102. The catalog description[1] noted, "MARATHA CONFEDERACY: AURANGNAGAR (MULHER): AR rupee, Aurangnagar, year 9, in the name of Alamgir II, wonderful strike, AU." The Marathas were an alliance of Hindu princely families formed to resist the encroachment of the Mughal Empire in the seventeenth century. Major names included the Peshwas, the Gaekwars, the Bhonslas, the Holkars and the Sindhias, all of whom formed independent states when the confederacy broke up at the end of the eighteenth century. Mughal emperor Alamgir II was murdered in November 1759, in the sixth year of his reign, by his vizier Imad-ul-Mulk. This coin, dated year 9, must have been struck by the Marathas after his death. Other dates include years 5, 6, 12, 13 and 14.
Recorded mintage: unknown but common.
Specification: 11.1-11.8 g, silver, this specimen 11.25 g.
Catalog reference: KM-239.
- Michael, Thomas, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.
- [1]Album, Stephen, Joseph Lang, Paul Montz, Michael Barry and Norman Douglas Nicol, Auction 51, featuring the Howard Daniel III Collection of Asian Coins, the Almer H. Orr III Collection of World Coins and the Joe Sedillot Collection of German Coins, Santa Rosa, CA: Stephen Album Rare Coins, Inc., 2024.
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