Rasmus K. writes: A friend of mine gave me an old coin, that was bought about 100 years ago in India. My problem is, that it is the only thing I know about it. I’ve had an expert in indian languages from the Aarhus University to look at it, but he could not say what the inscription meant. It weights about 8 grams, is 3 mm thick and measures about 21 mm in diameter. I Think it’s copper. If it’s possible, I would like to know how old it is, where it’s from, how common or rare it is and how much it’s worth.
Educated guess: India- Mughal Empire, early 18th century – the denomination is called a Dam (like a penny) and based on your weight estimate, “the light weight” standard. The language on these coins would be Arabic, not Indian. The symbols on the coin represent the Shah’s monogram, a regnal year (the year of the Emperor’s reign) and a mint mark. Generally these are crudely struck and are found in low grade. Values usually less than US $20.
Possibly, someone out there will be able to specifically identify the Shah and the exact date.
