Replica of the World’s Largest Coin to be Offered at Dix Noonan Webb

A 19th century replica of the world’s largest coin, measuring 13.5cm and weighing 900g, will be included in the Coins, Tokens and Historical Medals auction at Dix Noonan Webb in Mayfair on February 20-2.

Expected to fetch £3,000-4,000, the original was made for Mughal Emperor, Shah Jahan I. A similar specimen is also in the British Museum and both are clearly copies of the same original, a coin discovered in Patna in the 18th century and last seen in the 1840s. The specimen in the British Museum, worth 200 mohurs, was formerly in the collection of the India Museum in London, which closed in 1879. Mughal multiple-mohur coins are known to have been struck in denominations up to 1,000 mohurs, probably for presentation purposes; very few are known to exist today, as most were probably melted down at some point.

Elsewhere, a very fine and very rare testoon dating from the reign of Henry VII (1485-1509), estimated at £12,000-£15,000. It sold for £70 at the Wheeler sale in 1930, at the time one of the highest prices ever paid for an English hammered silver coin of less than crown-size.

A group of medals awarded to the pioneer aviator Paul Tissandier (1881-1945) will also appear. The French pilot-pupil of the renowned Wilbur Wright and the second man in France to get a pilots licence, Tissandier's medals from Société Météorologique de France, Aéro-Club de Belgique and Aero-Club d’Italia are estimated at £200-400.

Discovered by a metal detectorist near York, a copper-alloy Roman medallion of Severus Alexander (AD 222-235), dating to the period c.AD 231 (Reece Period 11) is also among the highlights. The coin depicts Jupiter naked holding a thunderbolt in his right hand and a long sceptre in his left. Severus Alexander is helmeted, in military dress, and stands facing him, holding a spear in his left hand. Two medallions of this type are held in the British Museum and just seven Roman medallions are currently recorded, this example being the first of Severus Alexander. It is estimated to fetch £1,000-1,500.

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