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Auction: 13019 - North East Indian Coins from the Nicholas Rhodes Collection
Lot: 222

Cooch Behar/ Mughal, Aurangzeb (1661-63 in Cooch Behar), Half-Tanka, 4.88g, dated year 4 of Aurangzeb's reign, mint of 'Alamgirnagar, legends in four lines on both sides, Aora/ngajeva Va/dasaha Ala/mgira, cross under va, rev. Jarava/ Alamgi/ rnagara/ Sana 4 (RB. 55; KM. 85), good very fine, extremely rare

Mughal forces under Mir Jumla invaded Cooch Behar in 1661 and stayed there until 1663. During the period Prana Narayan fled to Bhutan. Mir Jumla made the city of Cooch Behar his base and changed its name to 'Alamgirnagar. He also issued coins in the name of the Mughal emperor on the local standard and in the local script but using the Persian language. This particular coin is particularly important in having a clear regnal year pertaining to Aurangzeb. The Mughal invasion ended up as a disaster, with many not making it back. This issue, which fits into both the Cooch Behar and Mughal series, is extremely rare, especially with date visible. Back in the 1980s some rupee-size coins of similar type appeared on the market. They originated from Pakistan and were all modern confections. No genuine rupee coins are known for this issue.
Although Cooch Behar coins continued to be struck on the same weight standard, those from the Mughal period onwards, especially during the period of British influence, tend to be referred to as half rupees or even Narayani rupees, rather than half tankas. From here on, therefore, they are called half rupees even though there is no metrological reason for doing so.

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Sold for
£1,400