Mughal Empire IE 38 rupee KM-88

Stephen Album sale 47, lot 896

This specimen was lot 896 in Stephen Album sale 47 (Santa Rosa, CA, September 2023), where it sold for $1,440. The catalog description^[1] noted, "MUGHAL: Akbar I, 1556-1605, AR square rupee, Surat, IE38, jalal al-din muhammad akbar padishah 38 above the horizontal line, mint name below (with hard "S" instead of the traditional soft "S") // kalima within square; posted only by a single example on Zeno but dated IE37; 3 testmarks on reverse, bold EF, RRR. The normal square rupee of Surat, also dated IE38, also a one-year type (KM-88.6), has 'Allah akbar jalla jalaluhu' on the obverse, mint, date and the word 'jân' instead of a month on the reverse, also very rare (cf. Zeno-157514)." This type was struck at many mints. Only the mints that struck this type after 1600 are mentioned in the SCWC, including Tatta, Ujjain and Urdu.

Recorded mintage: unknown.

Specification: 11.2-11.6 g, silver, this specimen 11.21 g.

Catalog reference: KM-88.

Source:

• Album, Stephen, Checklist of Islamic Coins, 3rd Ed. Santa Rosa, Stephen Album Rare Coins, 2011.
• Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1601-1700, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2014.
• ^[1]Album, Stephen, Joseph Lang, Paul Montz, Michael Barry and Norman Douglas Nicol, Auction 47, Santa Rosa, CA: Stephen Album Rare Coins, Inc., 2023.

Link to:

• AH 998 (1590) square rupee, Ahmadabad Mint
• AH 1000 (1592) square rupee, Ahmadabad Mint
• IE 37 (1592) rupee, Ahmadabad mint
• IE 38 (1593-94) square rupee, Lahore mint
• IE 39 (1594) nazarana rupee, Ahmadabad mint
• IE 39 (1594-95) square rupee, Delhi mint
• Coins and currency dated 1593