Madras AH 1172/6 2 rupees

from Steve Album sale 27, lot 2399

This specimen was lot 43312 in Stack's Bowers NYINC sale (New York, January 2019), where it sold for $2,640. The catalog description^[1] noted, "INDIA. Madras Presidency. 2 Rupees, AH 1172 Year 6 (1758-59). PCGS Genuine--Tooled, VF Details Gold Shield. Struck posthumously in the name of Alamgir II in 1807 over a Spanish Colonial 8 Reales of indeterminate date and mint. A deeply toned example with spots of corrosion and several moderate scratches blended into the fields. About as affordable an example of this VERY SCARCE denomination as one is bound to find." This issue is not listed in the 18th century SCWC but the the 19th century SCWC. Altho dated in the eighteenth century, it was almost certainly made in the nineteenth century by the English on behalf of the (long dead) Mughal emperor. It was struck with frozen dates. Two dates are noted, KM 404.1 (AH 1172/2) and KM 404.2 (AH 1172/6). The English also made quarter rupees (KM 400, 409, 413, 425, 434), half rupees (KM 401, 402, 414, 426, 435) and rupees (KM 403, 410, 415.2, 415.1, 427, 436), all much more common than this double rupee. Some were probably milled.

Recorded mintage: 165,000.

Specification: 24.19 g, silver, 39.5 mm diameter.

Catalog reference: KM-404.2; Prid-245.

Source:

• Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
• ^[1]Ponterio, Richard, Kyle Ponterio, Matt Orsini and Cris Chatigny, The January 2019 NYINC Sale: Ancient Coins, World Coins & Paper Money, Santa Ana, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2018.

Link to:

• Madras (1761) 1/4 rupee
• AH 1172(6) quarter rupee
• Madras AH 1172(6) 1/2 rupee KM-414
• Madras AH 1172(6) mohur Fr-1584
• Coins and currency dated 1758
• return to coins of India, Madras Presidency