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Auction: 26088 - The Nicholas Rhodes Collection of Nepalese Coins Part II
Lot: 665

Nepal, Tribhuvan Vir Vikram Shah (1st reign, 1911-1950), Rupee (4), VS 1989 (1932), edges milled (KM 724), extremely fine to uncirculated, showing two different date styles (4)

Provenance

The Nicholas Rhodes Collection of Nepalese Coins and Medals: Part Two

Two of the first Rupees which were struck in Nepal (KM 724). The two figures for “9” in the date are written in two different styles. The figure “8” is written in different style when compared with the figures for “8” of the following coins (KM 723). Nicholas Rhodes reports that in 1932/3 AD the Calcutta mint supplied Kathmandu with punches for dies, and with 288 finished dies, presumably all dated VS 1989. The cataloguer believes that not all dies supplied by Calcutta were bearing a date, some must have come without date. The rupee type KM 724, dated VS 1989 may have been struck from a Calcutta die which had the date already engraved, while the rupees of the type KM 723 with the date VS 1989 were struck from Calcutta dies which did not bear a date; this was only engraved in Kathmandu with the types of figures which were normally used by the mint in Nepal. The same probably applies to the 50 paisa coins dated VS 1989 of the type KM 719 and KM 718.

According to Carlo Valdettaro the fact that rupee and 50 paisa coins dated VS 1989 exist with different types of figures in the date may be attributable to the circumstance that in VS 1989 (AD 1932) the Nepalese mint at Nakku in Patan was closed and the new mint at Sundara (Dahara) in Kathmandu started operating. Hence the two different styles of the date may reflect the coinage of the old and the new mint (letter to Nicholas Rhodes, dated Calcutta, Nov. 21, 1965).

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Estimate
£80 to £100

Starting price
£60