Copper Quarter Rupees of Shah Alam II

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The Bengal Presidency, formerly known as the Presidency of Fort William, was the most important administrative division of the British East India Company and later the British Empire in India. At the height of its territorial extent, it encompassed vast regions of present-day Bangladesh, eastern and northern India, Pakistan, and parts of Southeast Asia. Besides serving as the political and commercial centre of British administration, the Bengal Presidency played a pivotal role in the evolution of Indian coinage. The Calcutta Mint, established under the East India Company, became one of the principal centres for the production of machine-struck coins, introducing advanced minting technology that gradually replaced the earlier hand-struck and semi-mechanised methods.

Ali Gohar, better known by his imperial title Shah Alam II, was the seventeenth Mughal Emperor and the son of Alamgir II. He ascended the Mughal throne on 10 October 1760, ruling over an empire that had already entered a period of political decline. His reign is generally divided into two phases: the first reign (1760-1788) and the second reign (1788–1806), following his restoration to the throne. Although Mughal authority had diminished considerably, his name continued to appear on coinage struck by the British East India Company, reflecting the Company's policy of maintaining the symbolic legitimacy of Mughal sovereignty while exercising effective control over the Indian subcontinent.

During the reign of Shah Alam II, the Bengal Presidency produced both semi-machine-struck and fully machine-struck coinage. Among the most important issues of this period are the machine-struck Quarter Rupees dated 1831, bearing the mint name Farrukhabad in Persian script. Although these coins display the Farrukhabad mint name, historical records confirm that many examples were actually struck at the Calcutta Mint between 1831 and 1833. These Calcutta productions are distinguished by the presence of a crescent mint mark, a subtle feature that enables collectors to differentiate them from coins struck at the original mint. The official silver Quarter Rupee was produced to a standard weight of approximately 2.90 grams, with a diameter of about 16.5 mm and a thickness of around 1.4 mm.

An unusual specimen examined during this study differs significantly from the officially recorded silver issue. The coin is struck in copper rather than silver and has a recorded weight of approximately 2.30 grams, a diameter of 16.2 mm, and a thickness of 1.4 mm. Despite the difference in metallic composition, the specimen closely follows the design of the regular Quarter Rupee, with the Persian legends, calligraphy, and overall layout corresponding closely to those found on the official silver issues. The remarkable similarity of the dies suggests that the piece was struck using either official dies or dies copied directly from genuine examples.

The combination of an official design with an unrecorded copper composition strongly suggests that the specimen may represent an Off-Metal Strike (OMS). Off-metal strikes occur when a coin is struck on a planchet composed of a metal other than that intended for the denomination, either as part of experimental minting, trial production, or through the accidental use of an incorrect blank. Such pieces are exceptionally scarce within the Bengal Presidency series and are highly valued for the insight they provide into historical minting practices. Confirmation of its status would require detailed metallurgical analysis, die comparison, and examination of the striking characteristics. If authenticated, this copper 1831 Quarter Rupee would represent an important addition to the corpus of known off-metal varieties of the Bengal Presidency and contribute valuable evidence to the study of early machine-struck coinage produced under the authority of Shah Alam II.








I love to collect coins, specially British Indian coins

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