The year was 1695. Emperor Aurangzeb was still at the peak of his reign when a self-styled ‘Captain’ Avery captured Ganj-i-Siwa’i, the largest of the Mughal ships. The ship was on its way to Surat carrying not just worshippers returning from a pilgrimage to Mecca but five lakh gold and silver coins, which was the revenue from the sale of Indian goods in the Arab world. Avery first sailed with the hijacked ship to Madagascar and then to the West Indies. A couple of days ago, the Economic Times reported that a handful of the pirate bounty was found in a fruit orchard in rural US. The picture of the Emperor and his coins made me dip into my basket of coins and memories of Khote Sikke.
Since Shah Jahan had emptied the coffers with his opulent constructions
all over and what remained was plundered by pirates like Avery, this collector
was not left with any coin of the Mughal period. So I flipped the pages of
history and found that the Marathas were the true successors of the Mughals
with a pan-India presence. Till recently, I believed that I had a coin of the
Great Marathas that would fetch me a fortune at the Sotheby’s. This coin is
small and heavy and for long I could not read the text. One day, I used the old
school tracing technique of putting a white paper on top of the coin and with a
pencil rubbed the surface…..slowly the inscription became clear…..Shree Mahdavrao
Ma Shinde. A coin of the royal family of Scindia’s! The coin has the emblem of
the Gwalior royals in the centre with a cobra coiled above a crossed spear and
trident within a circle of beads. Wikipedia also told me that Madho Rao Scindia
ruled Gwalior from 1886 to 1925 but what intrigued me was the name taken by the
royal scion of Scindias….Alija Bahadur, at a time when the Last Mughal had been
deported to Rangoon and the British Empire ruled the country. Mr. Google knows
everything so I checked the value of my prized possession and was sadly
disappointed to know that it was worth no more than $20….Khota Sikka.
My pouch yielded me some more interesting coins and I shall limit myself to a few. The earliest coins of British India are of George V King Emperor of 1912, a quarter anna and 1916 silver one rupee coin and half rupee of 1946. I was overjoyed to find a one rupee coin minted in 1947 of independent India but the reverse side took away all my joy….there was George VI King Emperor who was still ruling. And, surprisingly, I have coins of newly independent state of Pakistan....1948. The one pice (not paise) coin of 1954 with a prancing stallion is the earliest independent Indian coin in my collection.
One Paise over the ages |
Talking of independence, can you see the small coin in the picture above? This is a 1970 coin of Pakistan Sarkar written in Bangla. Bangladesh was not yet born and atrocities there drove millions of refugees into India. One such refugee was a young man in his twenties who had walked into India and managed to reach Calcutta. My father had requested another relative of his there to arrange for a train ticket for the person. Baba, Ma and the three of us went to the Old Delhi Station to receive our guest. He was Nepal da, my father’s nephew from Chittagong. He stayed with us for six months at a time marked with black outs and fears of Pakistani planes bombing Delhi. My mother would take Nepal da out to the markets where she would tell the vendors of the hardships my cousin had to face. Nationalism was at its peak and people readily gave discounts to the poor man on all purchases. My mother also went around her office and colony to collect funds for Nepal da, and when Bangladesh was born, he, reluctantly, went back to his homeland with something to start with. I now realize that it is funny how in one paragraph I have written about the whole sub-continent…India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal!
Ek Do Teen.. |
Attanni Chavanni |
With the coming of the Euro, the European currencies like French Franc, Spanish Pesetas, German Deutsche Marks and Greek Drachma suddenly became khote sikkey. Just the Queen Elizabeth in the centre continues her reign uninterrupted.….Kal Bhi, Aaj Bhi.
And who can forget the 9 pm call of “Mitroooon” on 8th Nov 2016…. when we were told that our hard earned money had turned black and khote while those who had the black got theirs converted to white and sacche! This was the Demon called Demonetization.
Twenty Twenty |
And finally see the twenty paise coin of 1969 and a twenty rupee coin of 2020 lying side by side? The 1969 coin would have surely bought much more than the twenty rupee of today so I propose to the present government to re-introduce the old coin, not just for the value but for the logo in the centre which surely they will find very apt.
SS
Nice article. Good history on coins.
ReplyDeleteThe numismatic in you paints a good poetry.
You remind me of the " kanche wali" cold drink bottles.
Pushing the marble down was such a fad those days.
I loved the technology and dont know why the bottlers dont use it anymore.
You could create a usp around it with glitzy ads and present as some great feature.
As usual, lucid writing.
Engrossing and educative while it takes you down the memory lane.
You have made quite a collection of coins ..
ReplyDeleteloot and hijack of emperor’s ship by a pirate was not known and it’s an interesting piece of lost history
Forget about kamal ka Phool on any coin .. lot of water passed since 1969.
Wish someone writes a history book as “History was” and not “what historians want us to know”
The history laced with such stories can make the subject even more interesting. Well articulated sir...
ReplyDeleteWith 5paisa we got a good piece of halwa, peanut bar in front of school which will now cost not less than Rs.50/- but definitely not the same taste. That’s how it’s with this money, not do tasty as it was long ago.
ReplyDeleteWith 5paisa we got a good piece of halwa, peanut bar in front of school which will now cost not less than Rs.50/- but definitely not the same taste. That’s how it’s with this money, not do tasty as it was long ago.
ReplyDeleteNicely articulated thoughts. Your article took be back in memory lanes when we used to collect paisa, 2 paisa, 5 paisa coins of various periods minted in various metals. I even had an anna coin but having gone to hostel, my coin treasure got usurped by newgen kids.
ReplyDeleteI even had a big collection of postage stamps and used to take pride with variety in my possession. There used to be a race among collectors to lay hands on any new addition to coins or stamps.
Nicely articulated thoughts. Your article took be back in memory lanes when we used to collect paisa, 2 paisa, 5 paisa coins of various periods minted in various metals. I even had an anna coin but having gone to hostel, my coin treasure got usurped by newgen kids.
ReplyDeleteI even had a big collection of postage stamps and used to take pride with variety in my possession. There used to be a race among collectors to lay hands on any new addition to coins or stamps.
Nicely articulated thoughts. Your article took be back in memory lanes when we used to collect paisa, 2 paisa, 5 paisa coins of various periods minted in various metals. I even had an anna coin but having gone to hostel, my coin treasure got usurped by newgen kids.
ReplyDeleteI even had a big collection of postage stamps and used to take pride with variety in my possession. There used to be a race among collectors to lay hands on any new addition to coins or stamps.
Nicely articulated thoughts. Your article took be back in memory lanes when we used to collect paisa, 2 paisa, 5 paisa coins of various periods minted in various metals. I even had an anna coin but having gone to hostel, my coin treasure got usurped by newgen kids.
ReplyDeleteI even had a big collection of postage stamps and used to take pride with variety in my possession. There used to be a race among collectors to lay hands on any new addition to coins or stamps.
What an insight into coins and history,dada. And so well illustrated.
ReplyDeleteU tickled the memories of people like us who lived through the same times but in different geographies.only u put it in a lucid prose that makes it a great Sunday morning read .
ReplyDeleteDuring my college days, there were many road side sellers of old coins, around Churchgate area. Hundreds of old coins used to be spread out on a mat. Wonder how many of those were Khote Sikke and how many were original!
ReplyDeleteVery interesting blog-your knowledge of history, pride in your collection and your subtle humour-all very evident!
Live long TIGER...
ReplyDeleteOh my! Didn't know you were a numismatist! What an amazing collection and stories! There were also hexagonal aluminium 20 paises for a while. I had a big collection of coins. Must try to line up this way. Truly wonderful piece and the best was the goli soda! WWE actually got it for 5 ps in the seventies. 15ps for lemon soda which was a super treat!
DeleteMemories rekindled. Those days, in the early 70s, an amount of 10 paise was an advance or udhaar, which the loaner would chase for the recovery religiously. A cup cake and toffees would cost that much.
ReplyDeleteThe coins you have are precious, and would command a premium in the social market, besides a collector's delight. Nothing matches the emotional value of the priceless possession. You are lucky.