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1 Dam - Akbar 1556-1605AD
| Issuer | Mughal Empire |
|---|---|
| Year | 1556-1605 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Arabic |
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| Reverse description | Reverse of this hammered copper dam presenting a multi-line Arabic inscription filling the entire field, arranged in horizontal registers in a style typical of Akbar-period copper coinage. The bold, raised lettering displays characteristic Mughal calligraphic forms, with the legend recording the mint name and/or regnal year where the strike permits legibility. The flan is thick and uneven, with a rough, lobate periphery and no trace of a border or rim. The surface is heavily patinated with green cuprite deposits interspersed with areas of brown oxidation, consistent with prolonged burial or extended circulation. |
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| Additional information |
Akbar's copper dam formed the base unit of the tri-metallic system he formalized following his accession in 1556, with the silver rupee fixed at 40 dams — a ratio that held with reasonable stability across most of his reign. The sheer volume struck across mints from Lahore to Fatehpur Sikri makes attribution to a specific facility genuinely difficult without a legible mint name, and many examples circulated so heavily that the mint signature is the first detail to disappear.
Akbar eventually experimented with square and round flans simultaneously, and some issues carry regnal year notations introduced as part of his administrative reforms under the Din-i-Ilahi period.