ORIENTAL NUMISMATIC SOCIETY INFORMATION SHEET. No. 6 Sept (97S
ORIENTAL NUMISMATIC SOCIETY INFORMATION SHEET. No. 6 Sept (97S
INDIA INDIAN NATIVE STATES.
THE COINAGE OF KISHANGARH. PART II.
K.W.WIGGINS.
In a previous information sheet a description was given of the various types of
coin struck in the State of Kishangarh. The original purpose of this paper was to give an account of some later silver coins originating in the same State,. which, as far as I am aware, have not been published before and about which very
little is known. However, some further pieces have now come to light and it seems appropriate to present them as Part 2 of this paper in the hope that a complete record of the silver coins of Kishangarh now exists, This is doubtful and if any member has coins which may help with this series it is hoped that they will communicate with the secretary so that further amendments may be made in due course,
It was stated in the previous paper that the mint at Kishangarh closed about 1900. This is obviously incorrect, in view of the later coins that have now been found, It would appear that Kishangarh was striking its own coins well into the 20th century, although probably on a much reduced scale.
It is a matter of record that in 1876 the British Government offered to mint the coins of the various Indian Native States without charge on condition that they closed down their own mints, This offer was apparently never accepted by the Kishangarh authorities, In 1893 the British Government withdrew their offer and this action brought about such a depreciation in the value of the Native States coins that most of them readily agreed to surrender their right of striking their own money. Much of the States’ coinage was purchased by the British Government at face value, Kishangarh, however, retained their right to strike their own coins in silver,
Various other states retained their right to strike money in either gold, silver
or copper and sometimes all metals, but whether any strict control was kept over the minting activities of these States is doubtful. It will be found that States that retained the right to mint copper coins periodically issued gold and silver, and others with the authority to issue their own silver sometimes struck in copper. No doubt any issue in an unathorised metal would have been frowned upon had it been on a large scale but such issues that did occur were small and infrequent,
The coins listed herein are all in silver. An attempt has been made to give as much of the legends as possible, with a translation and a transliteration, but generally only one specimen is available for examination making an accurate reading almost impossible and a complete one certainly impossible.
I am greatly indebted to our members, Mr. Jan Lingen and Col. C.K. Panish who provided much information and assistance for this paper. — a a وك
DESCRIPTION OF 0055
Fig. VII Rupee. 21 diam. 168 grains. Obverse
نا abi in ) (Kaisar-i-Hind? ) Struck coin “4
و
منور بأ VICTORIA of the هملاخوم MU” AZZAMAH Sultanate of crtolu SULTANAT Her Majesty ee af نك 5 1 er Victoria
“Victoria” may be “sikka mabarak” J J lus. 2 wth or “Inglestan” ae 2 Reverse
NOTE
It was stated previously that the “1858” rupee was issued spasmodically between 1858 and 1900, obverse legend, (Prithvi Singh or Sardul Singh?)
MAIMANAT
JALUS
KI SHANGARH
ZARB 24 (Sanah?)
This would appear to be incorrect, for this rupee, although having the name of Queen Victoria, bears an entirely different
On the coin itself, it is far from complete and may contain a date, which falls off the flan at the top of the coin, evidently a later type than the “1858” rupee, Struck at Kishangarh year 24 of his prosperous reign It is
DESCRIPTION OF COINS (Continued) Fig. VIII Rupee. 20mm diam. 167 grains. Obverse Sultanate HIND of Her Majesty KAISAR=I=
Victoria MU’AZZAMAH VICTORIA
SULTANAT
The words “sikka mabarak” probably fall off the flan.
(Sardul Singh?)
MAT MANAT
JALUS
KISHANGARH
ZARB 24 ee (Sanah? ) Note Emperor of India Struck at Kishangarh in the year 24 of his prosperous reign
This rupee shows a different arrangement of what may be the same obverse
legend of Fig. VII. The words Kaisapi-Hind are apparent below the date, whereas they do not appear at all on the preceding coin.
shows that this type of coin had by 1880 taken the place The date clearly of the “1858” rupee,
DESCRIPTION OF COINS (Continued) Fig. IX Half Rupee 17mm diam. 84 grains. Obverse سنة عم year
ypro Re KAISAR-I~HIND Emperor of India > و 5 en
Obviously some of the legend is off the flan of the coin am the only
words that can be read with any assurance are given above, The date is questionable but appears to be an attempt at 1902 in Persian numerals, The character ‘before the numerals may be the commencement of the word
“Iswy” reading “Sanah Iswy 1902” (Year of Jesus 1902) or may be the die
cutter’s attempt at 27 (AD in.Urdu); a practice not hitherto known, Reverse
ee عسوم ) yw BAHADUR
Ta iw KISHANGAR
rT Note
The date when this solitary half rupee, bearing the name Edward, was
issued is not free from doubt. The words “Edward and “Kaisar-i-Hind” are clear and the legend contains a rather obscure date preceded by the word “Sanah” and another character or characters indicating that the date is of the Christian era and not tte Muhammadan, In all probability the date is 1902, indicating that the ruler was Edward VII (1902~1910) and the coin was struck during the time of Maharajah Madan Singh (1900-1926). Unfortunately, nothing else appears on the coin which could confirm this, The striking of rupees at Kishangarh had probably ceased by this time, or, it is thought, specimens would have come to notice, It is probable that a quarter rupee of the above type exists.
DESCRIPTION OF COINS (Continued)
Pig. X Half Rupee 20mm diam, 83 grains. A quarter Rupee is also known 15mm diam, 42 grains. Obverse
GEORGE HUKM
(Sultanat?) ck ne vine ) Reverse
اي ةس جلا م البح سولق
sd fF»
we نر YAGYANARAIN Year 24 in Cs J رم Ln BAHADUR Kishangarh ae? KI SHANGARH Lord Yagyanarain rr / dian) (sanah?) Note
The obverse legend of this piece contains the word George and the reverse
appears to have the name of the Maharajah Yagyanarain, who ruled Kishangarh
from 1926 until 1938, The coin may therefore have been struck during the reign of George V or George VI. Whether the issue comprises only the + and + rupee is not known,
DESCRIPTION OF COINS (Continued)
Fig. XI Rupee. 20-2423 diam, 168 grains. The half, quarter and
eighth rupee are also known, Their weights are proportional
to the rupee and their diameters are 17-18, 15 and 12mm respectively. Obverse
ST لو
MANUS Struck at Le ee ee) MAIMANAT Kishangarh a shor JALUS in year 24 Vane” 5 ghd KISHANGARH of his
+ <A
77 )) dw: د قل ZARB (sanah? ) 24, fortunate reign Reverse
=H ra CHANDI Moonlike
(a round silver piece) Note
The above four denominations, having identical inscriptions but bearing no reference to the Emperor of India or the Maharajah of Kishangarh, are
thought to be private issues from Kishangarh State, As they are undated their period of issue is unknown and may have extended over a decade or more, These coins appear to be more in the nature of tokens about which nothing is known at the present. Further information on this series would be appreciated,
DESCRIPTION OF COINS (Continued) Fig. XII Half Rupee. 16mm diam, 984 grains.
| KISHANGARH | Struck in | |
|---|---|---|
| SANAH 24 | Year 24 at | |
| ZARB | Kishangarh | SANAH 24 Year 24 at ZARB Kishangarh In Hindi: ATH ANA Eight annas |
In Urdu ATH ANA Bight Annas Centrally a mark for 8 Annas Fig. XIII Quarter Rupee 12mm diam, 42 grains. Obverse As Fig XII wid Reverse
» =I II
In Hindi: CHAR ANA Four Annas. Ne ov | جمار In Urdu: CHAHAR ANA Four Annas
00-6 Centrally a mark for 4+ 8 Fig. XIY Two Annas 11mm diam, 21 grains
Obverse As Fig. XII Ge
Reverse
zy oa In Hindi: DU ANA Two Annas درو آنه In Urdu: DUO ANA Two Annas Note
The inscriptions shown in Figs. XII, XIII and XIV have been reconstructed
from a number of specimens, It will be noted that the name Kishangarh is in two parts and the spelling adopted is LE ‘. These coins also have the appearance of local tokens rather than an official State issue, but appear to be more plentiful than the previous type (Fig. XI). They were conceivably Struck at the Kishangarh mint from bullion tendered by private persons and used solely as a local currency,