Sikh Empire VS1829 rupee KM-63
This specimen was lot 2713 in Steve Album Auction 51 (Santa Rosa, CA, January 2025), where it sold for $192. The catalog description[1] noted, "SIKH EMPIRE: AR rupee, Lahore, VS1829, bold strike, couple minor stains on the reverse, XF." The Sikhs were a religious sect formed in the fifteenth century and lived peacefully under the Mughals until the emperor Jahangir deemed them a threat in the early seventeenth century. Mughal attacks militarized the religion and eventually the Sikhs defeated the Mughals and established an empire in the Punjab, which survived until conquered by the British in 1849. This type was struck VS 1822-1840 and is fairly common. Lahore was the first mint in the Sikh empire to issue rupees, in VS 1822; Multan was second.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specifications: 11.1-11.2 g, silver, this specimen 11.40 g.
Catalog reference: KM-63, Herrli-08.03.04.
- 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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