The Puddester Collection (Part I)

East India Company, Bengal Presidency, Calcutta Mint: Third milled issue, silver Rupee in the name of ‘Shah ‘Alam II (1173-1221h/1759-1806), no hegira date, frozen regnal yr 19 [1819-29], 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], no private marks, rev. zarb murshidabad sanah 19 julus maimanat manus [struck at Murshidabad in the 19th year of his reign of tranquil prosperity], privy mark s at top left, edge straight-grained, 12.45g/12h (Prid. 176 [Sale, lot 618]; Stevens 6.13; KM. 109). Extremely fine and with mint bloom, scarce [certified and graded NGC MS 63+] £150-£200

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

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Bt P.H. Davis (Tampa, FL) June 1981.

Owner’s ticket.

The significance of the s privy mark remains the subject of debate. Pridmore suggested it represented the initial of George Saunders (1782-1836) who was the mint master at Calcutta from December 1815 to 1820. If Pridmore’s suggestion is correct, the mark might represent the earliest pieces struck of this issue (i.e. 1819-20, before Saunders, who later became the collector of customs at Agra, was replaced temporarily by J.M. McNabb, himself later the commissioner for revenue at Benares, and then by his namesake, Robert Saunders (1792-1856)), as there are minor design differences between them and non-s marked coins. Robert Saunders, who took up his post in January 1826, is well-known from the placing of his initials on many of the first post-1835 uniform issues