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Auction 16041 27 September 2016
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Assam, Ramakanta Simha (1769), nine-sided gold 1½-Mohur, 17.09g, Sk.1691, Śrī Śrī Yasta/bhuja Gosā/ni Devatā/ra Sevakarev. Śrī Śrī Svarga/ Deva Ramākā/nta Simha Nrpasya/ Śāke 1691, winged lion below right (RB. P1.1; N.G. Rhodes, A gold coin of Ramakanta Simha, Numismatic Digest 23-24 (1999-2000), pp. 87-9), light surface deposits, good extremely fine, virtually as struck and exceptionally rare.
After the death of Rajeśvara Simha there was a succession dispute between those supporting Rudra Simhas youngest son, Lakshmi Simha, and those supporting Rajeśvaras son. The Borbarua, one of the five councillors of state, held power during this period. He caused great offence to the Moamaria Gosain, a caste of Assamese Brahmins who took their revenge by rebelling and capturing the Ahom capital. Ramakanta Simha was installed as king by them. His coins are exceedingly rare as the Moamaria rebellion was soon quelled and, in 1770, Lakshmi Simha took possession of the throne.This particular example is unusual in several respects: it has nine sides, rather than eight, it carries a unique invocation to Astabhujadeva, who was Ramakantas guru, and its weight suggests it is a 1½-Mohur denomination. Rhodes comments that all eleven known coins of this type appeared on the market in 2001 and that there is an error in the first line of their obverse legends, written Yastabhua instead of Astabhuja .. This error had been adjusted by the time the single known 1½-Rupee coin was struck from the same dies.
Estimate: £4,000.00 - £6,000.00
After the death of Rajeśvara Simha there was a succession dispute between those supporting Rudra Simhas youngest son, Lakshmi Simha, and those supporting Rajeśvaras son. The Borbarua, one of the five councillors of state, held power during this period. He caused great offence to the Moamaria Gosain, a caste of Assamese Brahmins who took their revenge by rebelling and capturing the Ahom capital. Ramakanta Simha was installed as king by them. His coins are exceedingly rare as the Moamaria rebellion was soon quelled and, in 1770, Lakshmi Simha took possession of the throne.This particular example is unusual in several respects: it has nine sides, rather than eight, it carries a unique invocation to Astabhujadeva, who was Ramakantas guru, and its weight suggests it is a 1½-Mohur denomination. Rhodes comments that all eleven known coins of this type appeared on the market in 2001 and that there is an error in the first line of their obverse legends, written Yastabhua instead of Astabhuja .. This error had been adjusted by the time the single known 1½-Rupee coin was struck from the same dies.
Estimate: £4,000.00 - £6,000.00