The Puddester Collection (Part I)

East India Company, Bengal Presidency, Patna Mint: Second milled issue, gold Mohur in the name of ‘Shah ‘Alam II (1173-1221h/1759-1806), frozen year 1202h and regnal yr 19 [1793-1818], naming Murshidabad, sikka zad bar haft kishwar saya fazl ilah hami din muhammad shah alam badshah [defender of the religion of Muhammad, Shah ‘Alam emperor, shadow of the divine favour, put his stamp on the seven climes], triangle of pellets in top line, extreme right group of pellets with extra pellet at centre, rev. zarb murshidabad sanah 19 julus maimanat manus [struck at Murshidabad in the 19th year of his reign of tranquil prosperity], normal borders, edge grained right, 12.38g/12h (Prid. 68 [secret marks attributed to Dacca: not in Sale]; Stevens 5.29, this coin cited; cf. KM. 103.2; F 1537). Brilliant and virtually as struck with full mint bloom, a stunning coin and excessively rare, very few specimens known [certified and graded NGC MS 63] £5,000-£7,000

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Puddester Collection.

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Collection

A Parcel of East India Company Issues for Bengal, Glendining Auction (London), 3-4 October 1988, lot 500
Sir John Wheeler Collection, Baldwin Auction 22 (London), 2 May 2000, lot 135.

Owner’s ticket and envelope.

The mint at Patna started to produce the new milled coins in 1794, the last of the four Bengal mints to operate in this way; the reasons for attributing coins to it bearing an extra pellet in the extreme right group, rather than to Dacca, are fully explained by Stevens (2012, pp.217-20)