Coins are considered as a major source of information to understand history. Historically, coins are treated by Kings/Rulers to show their rule over a specific region. When one king defeated another, he counter struck the then existing coins by his own symbols marking the victory and new rule. The oldest evidence known to me is from the period of 'Satavahanas' BC 150 to AD 250. When Satavahana King Siri Satkarni defeated Kshatrapa king Nahapana, he counter struck Nahapana's coins by his own symbol to announce and symbolize his victory over king Nahapana.
The coin shown here is 'Hali Sikka' which tells us about not just one but three empires. This coin was minted in 'Pune' [then 'Punah']. The coin is known as 'British Nagphani rupee'. This is a silver rupee and has weight of around 11 gms.
The empires are:
1- Mughal Empire
2- Maratha Empire
3- British Empire
Mughals minted Silver rupees in Persian script.
Peshwa of Maratha Empire Peshwa Madhav Rao introduced a 'Nagfani' symbol also known as 'Cobra hood' symbol about 1764 AD. During this period, Marathas a powerful force in Hindustan had already defeated Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II.
Later in 1818, in 3rd Anglo-Maratha war, British East India Company [EIC] forces defeated Marathas to establish their rule over complete Hindustan. They introduced the Fasli year in Devnagari script in Hali Sikka about 1820. The Fasli year 1239 in Devnagari script can be seen on the coin. This dates to 1829 AD. It is also known as a British transitional rupee as the empire was being transitioned from Maratha rule to EIC rule.
In 1835, the uniform coinage was introduced by EIC when mintage of this coin was stopped.
AD year = Fasli year + 590
Obverse: Has the name of the emperor 'Sikka Mubarak Akbar Shah Badshah Gazi'. Out of this, we can see only ' dshah Ga' on this coin.
Reverse: Has name of the mint [Zarb] Punah, Nagfani symbol in word 'Julus', Fasli year 1239 which is AD 1829.
Metal: Silver
Weight: Approx 11 gms
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