2018-11-14 Wed

This Gold Half-Ashrafi which was minted in Farkhanda Bunyad Hyderabad was issued by Mir Usman Ali Khan from the Princely State Hyderabad.

Hyderabad was a Princely State during the British rule in India. The state is located in the South-central region of India. It was founded by Mir Qamar-ud-din Khan, a governor of Deccan under the Mughal Empire from 1713 till 1721AD. In the year 1724, he became free from Mughal administration and founded Asaf Jahi dynasty. He took the title Asaf Jha and his other title Nizam-ul-Mulk became the title of his position Nizam of Hyderabad.

Mir Usman Ali Khan was the last ruler of Hyderabad and had ruled Hyderabad between 1911 to 1948 CE until the state was annexed by India. Later he was made as Rajpramukh of Hyderabad State on 26 January 1950 and he continued on this post until October 1956 after which the state was partitioned on linguistic basis and became part of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Maharashtra.

This gold Half-Ashrafi which weighs around 5.5g is listed for INR 70,000 in the upcoming auction of Todywalla which will be held in Mumbai on 24th November 2018. The obverse of the coin is inscribed with the image of ‘Charminar’ with a short initial ‘Ain’ and Hijri Date 1357. The reverse of the coin depicts name, the title of the king and the regnal year '29'.

Image Courtesy: Todywalla Auction