1817 - 1835 - Madras Presidency
AH 1172 Arcot One Rupee

The East India Company obtained permission to strike Arkat style rupees from the Subah of Arkat (Arcot) in 1742. The first actual production under this was in 1759 in the name of Alamgir II and bear the Hegira date 1172 with the regnal year 6. This machine struck rupee although produced in the period 1817 to 1835 CE retains the original frozen date. The coin also refers to the Arkat mint although struck at the Company's mint in Madras.

SPECIFICATIONS
DenominationOne Rupee
AlloySilver (0.943747Ag)
Diameter28.1 mm
Thickness2.1 mm
Weight Legal11.66 gms
Weight11.51 gms
ShapeRound
EdgeIndented cord
DieAxis0°
MintMadras
1817_arcot_1r_obverse 1817_arcot_1r_reverse
1817_arcot_1r_edge
Pridmore #24; Mitchiner #2224; Krause #86

Obverse : Within a beaded border a Persian legend: 1172 Sikka Mubarak badshah ghazi Aziz-ud-din Muhammad. Alamgir = 1172 the auspicious coin of the Victorious Emperor. Chosen of the faith of Muhammad. Alamgir. Dated AH 1172 - Frozen year 6 of Alamgir II (1759).
Reverse : Within a beaded border a Persian legend: Zarb Arcat sanat 6 julus maimanat manus = Struck at Arcot in his 6th year of tranquil prosperity. A closed lotus flower indicating Madras Mint.

The Madras Mint Arcot One rupee with closed lotus form (Krause Madras Presidency #413) the issue of which was authorized by a proclamation dated 1817 December 9th in Fort St. George (Madras). On 9th December 1817, a proclamation declared that the coinage of star pagodas would be discontinued and the standard would thenceforth be the Madras rupee with a conversion of 3.5 Rupees to Star Pagoda.

The 1824 Ceylon Blue book lists that 282,337 Arcot rupee coins were imported into Ceylon and counter marked for local use by a proclamation dated 1823 December 31st. to pass at 4/3 rix-dollar or 16 fanams.

Text from
* Ceylon Coins and Currency By H. W. Codrington. Colombo 1924
  Page 151 Chapter XI British - I : 1796-1825 - Plate 167.

The coin was scanned at 300dpi and the images are displayed at 200dpi.
The coin edge was scanned at 600dpi and the image is displayed at 400dpi.
The VF was purchased in May 2002 from a US dealer as a filler for the real countermarked coin which was far beyond what I could afford.