| Spink > Auction 23127 | Auction date: 28 November 2023 |
| Lot number: 9579 Price realized: 700 GBP (Approx. 883 USD / 807 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: (g) India, East India Company, Bombay Presidency (1825-1831), gold Mohur, in the name of Shah 'Alam II, Bombay (naming Surat), frozen year 46, privy mark 5, 8h (Pr. 266; KM 248), minor evidence of repair to edge at 3 o'clock, otherwise with a handsome mint bloom, uncirculated, in NGC holder, graded AU DETAILS, edge repair (Cert. #4863667-078). Estimate: £700 - £900 |  |
Match 1:
| Classical Numismatic Group > Triton XXVII | Auction date: 9 January 2024 |
| Lot number: 1146 Price realized: 35,000 USD (Approx. 32,057 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: INDIA, Colonial. British India. Bengal Presidency. 1699-1835. AR Pattern Double Rupee (34mm, 23.51 g, 6h). Prinsep's coinage. In the name of Shah 'Alam II (AH 1173-1221 / 1759-1806). Murshidabad (Pulta) mint. Triply dated AH 1198, RY 26 of Shah Alam II, and 1784. sikka zad bar haft kishwar saya fazl ilah hami din muhammad shah alam badshah 1198 / zarb murshidabad sanah 19 julus maimanat manus. Edge: UNITED EAST INDIA COMPANY 1784 (six-ray star stops). CEEIC 3.1; Pridmore 346; KM Pn9. Richly toned. In NGC encapsulation 6382530-002, graded PF 63. A most impressive coin. A great rarity of the Indian series. Ex Robert P. Puddester Collection; F. Pridmore Collection (Part II, Glendining, 18 October 1982), lot 674. John Prinsep (1748-1830) was the son of an Oxfordshire vicar. Seeing few opportunities for advancement in England, he joined the East India Company as a cadet, landing in Bombay in 1771. It appears that the young Prinsep soon decided to abandon his army career in favour of the commercial opportunities India offered him; he never joined the Company's army and resigned his commission in 1772. Having worked for several London cloth merchants before leaving for India, Prinsep soon became involved in the East India Company's cotton trade. In 1779, Prinsep began to cultivate and manufacture indigo in Nilgang, and while it appears this venture was profitable from the outset, events on the other side of the world would lead to Prinsep making his fortune. During the second half of the eighteenth century, one of the main sources of indigo was the plantations of South Carolina, so that indigo dye accounted for more than one-third of the value of all exports from the American colonies. The outbreak of the American War of Independence disrupted this trade at exactly the moment when Prinsep began producing indigo at Nilgang, allowing Indian producers to take control of this highly lucrative market. Following the discovery of copper mines at Rotasgarh, in 1780 Prinsep secured a contract to strike copper coins at a mint which he established in Pulta. In 1784, Prinsep tried to persuade the Calcutta Board to let him issue a new silver and gold coinage for Bengal, pointing out that the equipment in use at his new mint in Pulta was superior to what was then in use at the Calcutta mint. Following the resignation in January 1785 of the Calcutta mint master, James Paxton, it appears that Prinsep produced a small number of pattern coins dated 1784, including the present piece. Prinsep sent these to the Court of Directors in London in an attempt to persuade them to appoint him as the new mint master, but was unsuccessful. This setback hardly hindered Prinsep, however, who returned to England in 1788 having amassed a colossal fortune. He went on to pursue an active political career, including serving as MP for Queenborough from 1802-6, before his death at an advanced age in 1830. Estimate: 20000 USD |  |
Match 2:
| Leu Numismatik AG > Web Auction 28 | Auction date: 9 December 2023 |
| Lot number: 6516 Price realized: 35 CHF (Approx. 40 USD / 37 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: INDIA, Colonial. British India. Bengal Presidency. Murshidabad (Calcutta). In the name of Shah ʿAlam II (1760-1806). Rupee frozen RY 19 (Silver, 26 mm, 12.41 g, 12 h). The couplet, 'sekke zad bar haft keshvar sāye-ye fazl-e elāh, hāmi-ye din-e Mohammad shāh-e ālam pādeshāh' ('King Shah Alam, Shadow of God's Grace, Supporter of Muhammad's Religion, put [his] stamp on the seven climes' in Persian). Rev. 'zarb-e Morshedābād sane-ye 19 jolus-e meymanat maʾnus' ('Struck in Murshidabad in the year 19 of the prosperous reign' in Persian); privy mark at the end of the word 'meymanat'. KM 109. Areas of weakness and with some scratches and deposits, otherwise, very fine. Starting price: 25 CHF |  |
Match 3:
| Classical Numismatic Group > Triton XXVII | Auction date: 9 January 2024 |
| Lot number: 1147 Price realized: 17,000 USD (Approx. 15,570 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: INDIA, Colonial. British India. Bengal Presidency. 1699-1835. AR Pattern Rupee (27mm, 11.32 g, 6h). Prinsep's coinage. In the name of Shah 'Alam II (AH 1173-1221 / 1759-1806). Murshidabad (Pulta) mint. Triply dated AH 1198, RY 26 of Shah Alam II, and 1784. sikka zad bar haft kishwar saya fazl ilah hami din muhammad shah alam badshah 1198 / zarb murshidabad sanah 19 julus maimanat manus. Edge: UNITED EAST INDIA COMPANY 1784 (six-ray star stops). CEEIC 4.122; Pridmore 355; KM Pn14. Toned. In NGC encapsulation 6382529-001, graded PF 63. Crisply struck. Deeply toned with flashes of underlying brilliance. A beautiful coin of the highest rarity. Ex Robert P. Puddester Collection; Sir John Wheeler Collection (Baldwin's 22, 2 May 2000), lot 172, purchased from Spink, October 1989. The provenance of this coin prior to 1989 is not known, but there is a possibility that it could be the same specimen included within the Montagu (lot 89), Murdoch (lot 75) and Caldecott (lot 93) collections, which was the only specimen known to James Atkins. Estimate: 10000 USD |  |
Match 4:
| Classical Numismatic Group > Triton XXVII | Auction date: 9 January 2024 |
| Lot number: 1149 Price realized: 2,500 USD (Approx. 2,290 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: INDIA, Colonial. British India. Bengal Presidency. 1699-1835. AV Half Mohur (19mm, 6.16 g, 11h). In the name of Shah 'Alam II (AH 1173-1221 / 1759-1806). Murshidabad (Calcutta) mint. Dually dated AH 1200 and RY 19 (1785/6). sikka zad bar haft kishwar saya fazl ilah hami din muhammad shah alam badshah / zarb murshidabad sanah 19 julus maimanat manus. CEEIC 2.36 (this coin referenced); Pridmore –; KM 101. In NGC encapsulation 6382528-018, graded AU Details, bent. Very minor bend to flan. Toned with underlying luster. Ex Robert P. Puddester Collection. Ex Sir John Wheeler Collection (Baldwin's 22, London, 2 May 2000), lot 131; A Parcel of East India Company Issues for Bengal (Glendining, 3 October 1988), lot 487. Estimate: 2500 USD |  |
Match 5:
| Sovereign Rarities Ltd > Auction 12 | Auction date: 21 February 2024 |
| Lot number: 258 Price realized: Unsold | |
| Lot description: India, British India, East India Company, Bombay Presidency, later coinages: Mughal-style gold Mohur, Bombay [but naming Surat], 1825-31 issue, in the name of Shah 'Alam II (AH 1173-1221/1759-1806), frozen regnal year 46, sikka mubarak badshah ghazi shah alam [The auspicious coin of the victorious emperor Shah Alam], privy mark 5 incorporating star at left and a normal crown at right, rev. zarb surat sanah 46 julus maimanat manus [Struck at Surat in the 46th year of tranquil prosperity], (Stevens 3.5; KM 248). Graded by NGC as AU DETAILS Reverse Graffiti. NGC Certification 4863615-015 Starting price: 550 GBP |  |
