Very Fine+, Exceedingly Rare.

Gold Nisars of Shah Jahan are known in numbers small enough to count them on our fingers. This particular coin is noteworthy for another reason - it bears the date AH 1069/RY 33, which is after his son Aurangzeb deposed him and held a 'coronation'. The event took place on 1st Zi'lqada 1068, corresponding to 1st August 1658, in a hurried manner with tents erected in the garden outside the Shahjahanabad 'Red' Fort. Prior to this, on 19th June 1658, Aurangzeb had established control over the fort at Agra and Shah Jahan was kept in confinement here. Aurangzeb's coins bearing his name struck in AH 1068 are known, but it is possible that a few coins were struck merely in commemoration of the event and that otherwise coins in the name of Shah Jahan may have continued to be issued. The 33rd coronation day of Shah Jahan fell on 1 Jumada-II 1069 (February 1659). Coins in the name of Shah Jahan bearing AH1069 are known from a number of mints. It appears that with Dara Shikoh, the heir-apparent, being still in war with Aurangzeb, The accession of Aurangzeb was not fully recognized a few months after the 'coronation' event at Shahjahanabad in August 1658. After Dara was defeated, Aurangzeb held a second, more grandiose coronation at Shahjahanabad on Sunday 24 Ramzan 1069 (16th June 1659). This marked the end of Shah Jahan's rule. Soon afterwards the official date of accession was fixed by Imperial decree as 1 Ramzan 1068 (23rd May 1658). The Nisar dated AH 1069/RY 33 is therefore significant for it falls into this period of political uncertainty and intrigue. It also shows that while Shah Jahan was held in Agra after his deposition, presumably in captivity, some façade of a 'royal' treatment was still accorded to him.