Artifact
Coin of Banda Singh Bahadur
Early Sikh coinage struck in the names of the Gurus rather than a ruler.[Web][Mann][EoS]
- Date
- c. 1712
- Held by
- American Numismatic Society
- Location
- New York
- Provenance
- Attributed
- Status: Held
- The Sikh Museum site (copyright 2013) credits the Society's South Asian collection. Mann (2008) confirms a coin attributed to Banda Singh Bahadur dated 1712 there, and another of 1713 with a private collector.
The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism says Banda Singh Bahadur struck coins in the names of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji and Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji.
What is disputed
- Who issued the first Sikh coin?
Mann argues that the symbols may go back to Anandpur and suggests coins may have been minted there. He notes that Surinder Singh rejects this.[Mann]
See it online
A silver rupee struck under Banda Singh Bahadur at Amritsar, dated Year 2 (1711) according to the auction house that sold it. This is a different coin from the one at the American Numismatic Society.
Mint of Banda Singh Bahadur. Image: Classical Numismatic Group, 1711, as catalogued. Sold at auction by Classical Numismatic Group (present owner unknown).CC BY-SA 2.5. Source
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