Mughal Empire AH 1018/4 sawai mohur Fr-755

Stephen Album sale 50, lot 552

This specimen was lot 552 in Stephen Album sale 50 (Santa Rosa, CA, September 2024), where it did not sell. The catalog description^[1] noted,

"MUGHAL: Jahangir, 1605-1628, AV sawai mohur (heavy mohur), Agra, AH1018 year 4, with Khusru couplet, Persian inscription nur al-din shah jahangir ibn akbar badshah, regnal date to left // sikka zad dar shahr-e agra khusru-e giti panah, hijri date to lower left, much luster on both sides, an absolutely lovely design with excellent eye appeal, NGC graded MS61, RRR. A consummate lover of fine arts, Jahangir was known from his diary to dictate the designs and specifications of novel coinage (see the English translation by Rogers & Beveridge, London, 1909). Among them was the Nur-Jahani mohur, which weighed 20% more than the standard mohur and was ordered to replace the latter (p.11). In a later entry, he further alludes to the striking of mohurs with one and a quarter times the weight, or "sawa'i" in Persian, before finally returning to the original weight standard (p.197 & errata p.450). This distinct type, which was 25% heavier, thus came to be known as the sawai mohur. As with most types of gold among Jahangir's dazzling and prolific output, the sawai mohur was struck in limited quantities solely as a presentation issue for court officials and foreign dignitaries."

The gold mohur had traditionally weighed about 10.8-10.9 grams; we don't know what impelled Jahangir to issue this type with a weight about 25% over the standard. He may have intended it as a prestige coin; few survive today, suggesting that they were rapidly removed from circulation and melted. It is known dated years 3, 4 and 5.

Recorded mintage: unknown.

Specification: 13.55-13.70 g, gold, this specimen 13.60 g.

Catalog reference: Fr-755, KM-185.1.

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.
• 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.
• ^[1]Album, Stephen, Joseph Lang, Paul Montz, Michael Barry and Norman Douglas Nicol, Auction 50, featuring selections from the Dr. Robert A. Rosenfeld Collection, the Hakim Hamidi Collection, the Almer H. Orr III Collection and the Solar Collection, Santa Rosa, CA: Stephen Album Rare Coins, Inc., 2024.

Link to:

• AH 1015/2 (1607) square mohur, Lahore mint
• AH 1018/5 sawai mohur, Agra mint
• AH 1023/9 (1614) portrait mohur
• Coins and currency dated 1609