Jaripataka Rupaya (Silver)

This silver rupee coin minted in 'Nashik' is know as ‘Jaripataka’/‘जरीपटका’ rupee due to the symbol of ‘Jaripataka’ i.e. a Saffron flag, the flag of Maratha Empire on it.

Nashik came under Maratha rule sometime in 1751-52 from Mughals. Mughals had changed the city name to Gulshanabad which Marathas reverted back to Nashik as Nashik is old Hindu pilgrimage city. However due this names changes the coin bears the mint name as ‘Gulshanabad Na’. Here Na is for Nashik.

The coin also has Devanagari letter ‘Ra’ ‘रा’ on one side but it’s meaning is not identified yet.

This coin was started by Shrimant Madhavrao Peshwe in 1774.

Obverse: Bears the name of Emperor 'Shah Alam' - 'Sikka Mubarak Shah Alam Badshah Gazi. It also has a Devanagari letter ‘Ra’ ‘रा’  along with Hijri year 1207 which is AD 1793.

Reverse: Bears reverse 'Jaripataka' and the mint name 'Gulshanabad Na'.

Metal: Silver

Weight: 11.1 gms

Shree Sikka (Silver Rupee)

Shree sikka is probably the most easily identifiable Maratha coin as it bears the letter 'Shree' in Devnagari on it.'Shree Sikka' was struck at 'Chakan' mint. This mint was operational during 1793-1800 AD. The Maratha empire was once again at its peak after the destructive war of 1761. The letter 'Shree' was used probably to reflect the same. Chakan is a place near Pune and in present days Chakan is known as Industrial area.

The placement of words on Shree Sikka is little diffrent. The symbol of 'Zurb' is place at the left side of the word 'Julus'. This is probably because the mint name 'Mominabad' was so big that it couldn't be accompanied in its usual position. There seems to be no coins minted in the year 1796 AD.

Obverse: Bears the name of Emperor 'Shah Alam' - 'Sikka Mubarak Shah Alam Badshah Gazi.

Reverse: Reverse bears the letter 'Shree' in the word 'Julus'.

There is no coin specimen found bearing all the symbols and a complete mint name on it. The study of multiple coins revealed the above given details.

Metal: Silver

Weight: 11.22 gms

 

Chandor/Chandvad Half Rupee (Silver)

Chandor' or 'Chandvad' is near Nashik in present day Maharashtra. The mint at Chandor is said to be started by Malhar Rao Holkar around 1763-64 AD. However the coins are found only of the period of Tukoji Holkar which was a commander of Peshwa Madhav Rao after the demise of Malhar Rao Holkar.

These coins bears the mark of 'Tura', a marathi word which is an Ornament of Turban/Pagdi.

Coins bearing the date and regnal year are very rare.

The coin shown here is of 5.5 gms and is in excellent condition. It is with the name of Shah Alam II but due to its small size the name is not completely visible on the flan.

Obverse: Letters 'shah' from 'Badshah' can be seen.

Reverse: Shows 'Tura' between the letters 'Julus' and a Flower in the word 'Julus'.

    

Metal: Silver

Weight: 5.5 gms

Maratha Coins - Ankushi Rupaya

Here is the first addition of a beautiful Maratha coin to my collection - Ankushi Rupaya!

This Silver rupee coin bears the sign of 'Ankush' which is used to control the Elephant. It is said that these coins were first minted at 'Chinchwad' [Chinchur] near Pune. Hence these are also called as 'Chinchuri' rupaya. Later around 1772-73 Narayan Rao Peshwe started coining it at Pune and it was called as 'Ankushi'! After this, it got minted at various other places with varying degree of Fineness in silver content as well as its design.

Till the time of Narayan Rao Peshwe, Maratha forces were reborn from the huge loss of army in the 1761 battle of Panipat and recaptured the control on Mughal empire. This battle was a classic display of Sacrifice for the motherland and valour by Marathas against an invader. Hence, I think probably this 'Ankush' symbolizes the control of Marathas over the Mughal empire once again.

The picture shows the Obverse, Reverse and edge of the coin.

Obverse: Shows 'Ankush' symbol in 'Sa' of word 'Jalus'.

Reverse: Middle section shows the words 'Shah Gha' of the words 'Badshah Ghazi'. This refers to the then Mughal emperor 'Shah Alam II'. He was a puppet emperor for most of his reign in the hands of Marathas.

Edge: The bottom part of the picture shows the marks by Jewelers called as 'Shroff Marks' or 'Saraf marks' on the edge of the coin. This was used to be done to verify its genuineness and purity of silver content. 

The unique feature of this piece of coin is that shroff marks are on the edge. Most of the times these marks are found on the sides [Obverse/Reverse] of the coins.

The weight of this coin is 11.15gms.

Ankushi Rupee- Pune

India - Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaja

Maratha Emperor - Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaja

Chattrapati Shivaji [1630-1680], the great emperor , the founder of Hindu empire 'Hindavi Swarajya', who I admire the most, who is a pride of state of Maharashtra. Why Maharashtra? because today's Western Maharashtra was the major territory of his empire when he founded it. The empire is commonly know as 'Maratha Kingdom'. He was the great warrior and the only one who recreated and established Hindu empire at the time when the entire Hindustan was under the rules of 4 major Muslim dynasties Mughal, Adil Shahi, Qutb Shahi and Nizam Shai. Under these rules, the life of Hindu common man was nothing less then hell, when this great man rose by saying 'Hey Rajya Vave Ye To Shrinchi Iccha' means 'Its a God's wish this empire to be created (for Hindu common man)'! and took out the people from the shadow of Muslim rules to build 'Hindvai Swarajya' (Self-rule of Hindu people).

As far as coinage of his era is concerned, coins of gold, silver and copper are found. All coins bear the same wordings on both sides as below:

Obverse: Shri Raja Shiva
Reverse: Chatra Pati

The gold coin is known as 'Hon'. These 'Hon' coins are said to be very rare as it is believed that major number of gold coins were melted by Aurangzeb and British force when they overpowered the Maratha empire. Hence today, the price of 'Hon' is said to be in lakhs of rupees in India. Below is a snap of 'Hon' which I got to capture in one exhibitions held in Pune in 2011.

The silver coins is known as 'Raupya Mudra'[ means 'Silver coin']. This is also very rare in existence. Below is the snap of Raupya Mudra I saw in another exhibitions held in Pune in 2013.

I do not have both Gold and Silver coins of Shivaji Maharaja in my collection due to their high price.

However, I do have copper coins know as 'Shivrai' in my collection and as a numismatist I feel proud to have those in my collection.

Shivrai - After Corronation of Maharaja Chatrapati Shivaji Bhosale

The shivrai shown above is of the period after the corronation of Shivaji Maharaja as 'Chatrapati' [ after 1674]. This coin bears slight different design of doted circle inside which 'Shri Raja Shiva' and 'Chatrapati' is stamped on both sides of the coin.

Shivrai - said to be of Peshwa regime

The Shivrai shown above is a copper coin of Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaja. This is said to be of the period of Peshwas who were acting as a prime minister to Chatrapati Shahu Maharaj during the 18th century. There are lot of patterns observed in Shivrai coins in the form of symbols on it. In the above coin we can see a cresent [Chandra Core] after the letter 'Sri'.

These copper Shivrai coins were very popular in the British Bombay Presidency region [i.e. present day Maharashtra and Gujarat] and were in circulation even in 19th and early 20th century.

We dont find many patterns of coinage from Shiva Chatrapati period. This is because it was a time when Shivaji Maharaja built his empire from scratch by fighting with 3 major muslim dynasties. Hence he was completely busy in expanding and protecting his empire. Even he passed away at the age of just 50 years. Hence he didn't get time to think on coinage. After Shivaji Maharaj, Maratha kings 'Sambhaji Raje' and ' Rajaram Raje' kept Maratha fight alive for 27 years with Mughal emperor 'Aurangzeb'. Naturally the coinage of this period don't have much patterns and designs unlike Maharajas in Northern India who accepted alliance with Aurangzeb.

Click here to know more about Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaja.