Extremely rare! Gold 1/2 fanam (1/4 rupee in gold), Ahmd Shah Bahadur (1748-1754

Description

Inscription divided with a line: Ahmd Shah / Blank. Mintless type. 6mm, 0.17 grams. Herrli "Gold Fanams" - (fanams are listed as known for this mint, but not illustrated. 1/2 fanams are not listed and not illustrated).Gold fanams (weighing 0.36 grams and equal to 1/32nd of a mohur or 1/2 rupee in gold) in the name of various Mughal Emperors are perhaps the most obscure Mughal coins, poorly studied and mostly unlisted in various catalogues. They were issued in various mints, but are often difficult to attribute because of the mint is not readable or absent. This difficulty in attribution is evident from the fact that these coins were attributed to different States, dynasties, people and governors by various -fanams (weighing about 0.17-0.18 grams and equal to 1/64th mohur or 1/4 rupee in gold) are much more rare and more obscure than the whole fanams. They are unpublished in all catalogues, but were recently mentioned by Herrli in "Gold fanams" for the first time, though not illustrated. These 1/2 fanams were struck from the same dies as the whole fanams, but are much scarcer and extremely difficult to find. I am glad we can offer a small group of these coins - it is a rare opportunity to purchase one of the rarest denominations of Mughal coins.
On Sep 29, 2022 at 12:14:52 PDT, seller added the following information: