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MUGHAL: Jahangir, 1605-1628, AR zodiac 1/2 rupee, Ahmadabad, AH1027 year 13, Leo, PCGS EF40

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / Indian Coins - Mughal Empire Start Price:8,000.00 USD Estimated At:10,000.00 - 15,000.00 USD
MUGHAL: Jahangir, 1605-1628, AR zodiac 1/2 rupee, Ahmadabad, AH1027 year 13, Leo, PCGS EF40
SOLD
35,000.00USD+ buyer's premium + applicable fees & taxes.
This item SOLD at 2019 Sep 12 @ 10:47UTC-7 : PDT/MST
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MUGHAL: Jahangir, 1605-1628, AR ½ rupee, Ahmadabad, AH1027 year 13, KM-138.2, zodiac type, Leo (lion left), with the sun rising behind, attractive original tone, PCGS graded EF40, RRRR,
ex Dr. Axel Wahlstedt Collection

After Akbar introduced the Ilahi Era coinage in the 32nd year of his reign, most coins bore the mint name, the Ilahi year and starting in his 35th year, the month according to the solar calendar. This was continued on many coins of his successor Jahangir, but in his 13th year (=AH1027), he replaced the name of the month by its constellation symbols.

At first, this policy was applied to both the silver, struck at Ahmadabad, and the gold coinage, struck at Agra. All these coins bear the name Jahangir, the mint and the Hijri year on one side, the zodiacal symbol and the regnal year on the other. This was introduced in his year 13, during the Hijri date 1027, for both silver & gold. Whereas the gold continued to be produced through AH1034, the silver rupees were struck for only five months, indicated by the ram, bull, gemini, crab and lion, in that order, of which the bull & lion are relatively available, the other three rarer.

One reason for the rarity of the silver and gold zodiac pieces is that they were recalled from circulation following the death of Jahangir. According to a report from the French 17th century traveller Jean Baptiste Travernier, use of the zodiac rupees thereafter was punishable by death!

However, by far the rarest of all the silver are the half rupees. There are no examples recorded on CoinArchives and only one on Zeno, #139936, the bull (taurus), an example in the Ashmolean Museum, also struck from dies prepared for the full rupee, and like this example, on a thin planchet intended for the half rupee. The KM catalog also lists the zodiac half rupee for Ahmadabad, the bull (KM-138.1, possibly the Ashmolean specimen), and the lion (KM-138.2, not illustrated). There are none in British Museum catalog or any of the other major museum catalogs in our library.