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This is the first issue of the new Bombay mint, which commenced operations in 1832 and continues to this date. The coin is full of fictions. Issued in the years 1832-35, it lists as the date AH 1215, which corresponds to the years 1800-01! It is issued in the name of Shah Alam II, who had died in 1806, and lists his regnal year of 46, which corresponds to AH years 1217-18, thus conflicting with the listed AH date of 1215! Finally, it names as its mint Surat, even though it was actually issued in Bombay! All of these fictions are so appropriate for a coin issued by a powerful colonial power, whose presence is formally indicated only by the 5-petalled flower at left on the reverse, in the name of a puppet Mughal emperor! |