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1 Dam - Bhupalendra Malla
| Issuer | Kathmandu Kingdom (Malla dynasty) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1687-1700 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Round |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Devanagari |
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| Reverse description | The reverse presents a Nagari legend in bold hammered relief, similar in style to the obverse, with characters distributed across the flan in a manner consistent with late seventeenth-century Malla dam coinage. The design, while described as blank in some references, exhibits faint remnants of inscription or device consistent with the heavily worn and weakly struck nature of this diminutive denomination. The irregular flan edges and rough surface are characteristic of the hand-hammered production technique employed at the Kathmandu mint during this period. |
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| Additional information |
The Dam was the smallest denomination in the Malla monetary system, and at roughly a twentieth of a Mohar it served the most granular transactions in the Kathmandu Valley's bazaar economy. Bhupalendra Malla ruled Kathmandu from 1687 until his death in 1700, a reign defined by intensifying rivalry with the neighboring Malla kingdoms of Patan and Bhaktapur — a fragmentation that would, within decades, leave all three valleys vulnerable to Prithvi Narayan Shah's conquest of 1768.
Surviving pieces in any condition are genuinely scarce; the combination of minimal silver content and active circulation ensured most were lost, melted, or simply worn to illegibility.