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Fanam - Tipu Sultan Patan mint
| Issuer | Kingdom of Mysore |
|---|---|
| Year | 1783-1794 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Small, crudely struck hammered gold flan bearing a stylised Arabic letter 'ha' (ه) rendered in bold relief at the centre of the field, enclosed within a plain inner circle and surrounded by a beaded border. The design is characteristic of the diminutive Mysore fanam series issued under Tipu Sultan, with the single calligraphic device serving as the primary identifying element on this face. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Hammered gold reverse displaying a two-line Arabic inscription in the central field, reading the Hijri regnal date above and the mint epithet 'Zarb Patan' (struck at Patan/Seringapatam) below, all contained within a plain inner circle and a beaded outer border. The legend is boldly but somewhat crudely engraved in the manner typical of Tipu Sultan's Mysore fanam coinage, with the numerical date rendered in Eastern Arabic numerals. |
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| Additional information |
Tipu Sultan's fanams were part of a sweeping monetary reform he imposed after taking power, replacing the coinage of his father Hyder Ali and introducing a new calendar, new weight standards, and new mint names — Patan being his designation for the town the British called Chitaldrug, captured from the Maratha-backed Nair chief in 1779. The reform was as much administrative assertion as fiscal policy.
Tipu's gold fanams circulated alongside a parallel copper and silver system that never fully integrated, leaving the fanam to function primarily in local bazaar trade across Mysore's interior.