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1 Rupee - Shah Alam II
| Issuer | Bombay Presidency |
|---|---|
| Year | 1823 |
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| Composition | Silver |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | The entire field is occupied by a three-line Persian legend arranged in horizontal registers divided by parallel ruled lines, reading 'Sikka Mubarak Badshah Ghazi Shah Alam' — the auspicious coin of the victorious Emperor Shah Alam. The Hijri regnal year 1215 appears prominently above the upper register. Decorative floral or pellet ornaments fill the spaces between and beside the registers, in the Mughal calligraphic tradition. The inscription is rendered in bold Naskh-style Arabic script, with diamond-shaped and cluster pellet embellishments punctuating the field. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | ١٢١٥ شاه عالم بادشاه غازي سكه مبارك (Translation: The auspicious coin of the victorious Emperor Shah Alam) |
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| Additional information |
Shah Alam II died in 1806, yet the Bombay Presidency continued striking rupees in his name for nearly two more decades under the "frozen date" convention — a deliberate fiction maintained to ease acceptance among Indian merchants and money-changers who trusted the established type. The East India Company understood that currency credibility in local bazaars depended more on familiar iconography than on accurate regnal attribution.
The Pridmore references suggest minor die varieties exist within this issue, likely reflecting multiple working dies in simultaneous use at the Bombay mint.