One country that has long been culturally rich with gold is India. For millennia, gold has been part of religious ceremonies, weddings, and savings for many of its citizens. Standardized gold coinage was first struck around 100 A.D. by Kushan Emperor Vima Kadphises. Many dynasties ruled India, but none was greater in terms of wealth than the Mughal Dynasty. They controlled the Indian subcontinent and other surrounding regions for over two and a half centuries. At the beginning of the 18th century, the Mughal Empire was worth almost 25% of the world's gross domestic product (GDP), or the equivalent of $21 trillion dollars in today's terms! One can only imagine how much gold must have been lying around in the Mughal Empire's treasuries.
The British, like the Spanish, had ambitions to gain wealth from commerce and colonization simultaneously. On December 31, 1600, Queen Elizabeth I approved the formation of the British East India Company, or EIC. The firm was granted sole trading all with Eastern countries, essentially granting the EIC a monopoly over its business region. In 1608, William Hawkins from the EIC visited India and landed in the city of Surat, which is in the state of Gujarat. The EIC wanted to conduct business in India, but first had to seek approval from the emperor.
Hawkins made fast friends with the fourth king of the Mughal Empire, Nur-ud-din Muhammad Salim, or Jahangir. The name Jahangir translates into "conqueror of the world.” This meeting between Hawkins and Jahangir led to further business development within the country by the EIC. In 1613, Jahangir minted a 12-kilogram gold coin denominated as 1,000 mohurs and produced as a presentation piece for Yadgar-Ali, who was the ambassador to the king of Iran. This massive coin known as the “Kaukab-i-Tali” emerged briefly during a Swiss auction in 1987. The seller was unhappy with the bids received, so it was withdrawn by the seller. The whereabouts of the coin today remain unknown. Jahangir's son, Shah Jahan, took over the rule of the Mughal Empire in 1628, and relations with the EIC continued to strengthen.
Tea, textiles, porcelain, spices, and other far eastern goods that were not available within Great Britain were being exported/imported by the EIC. Tea became the most popular import from China at the beginning of the EIC empire, and opium shipments for China began in 1650, amounting to about 3,000 metric tons. By 1690, the state of West Bengal in India, whose capital is Calcutta, set up a port to accommodate increased commerce. In addition to the port, the EIC arranged poppy flower (opium) growing operations near Calcutta to fulfill blistering demand, and the Calcutta Mint was also established by the EIC as well in 1757. By the end of the 18th century, opium became the primary source of income for the EIC.
Opium exports headed for China continued to flourish and had grown by about 700% or 21,000 metric tons until 1822. By 1835, these sales would grow by an additional 400%, meaning that the East India Company was now exporting 85,000 metric tons of opium destined for China. Money began to pour in for the EIC, and taxes collected by the British Crown ballooned.
The EIC and the British government decided to mint gold bullion coins bearing the portrait of King William IV in 1835. Two denominations were introduced: the mohur, which weighed 11.66 grams of .917-fine gold, and the 2 mohurs coin, weighing about 23.34 grams. The obverse with the king was designed by Robert Saunders, and the reverse, showing a lion in front of a palm tree, was crafted by John Flaxman. Both coins were available for purchase at the Calcutta Mint beginning on January 1, 1836. The main unit of currency in India is the silver rupee, which would be similar to the United States silver dollar or the British pound sterling. These bullion coins were not legal tender but equivalent to 15 silver rupees (1 mohur) and 30 silver rupees (2 mohurs) respectively.
The 2 mohurs coin has a mintage of 1,174 coins and is also known as the “double mohur.” It is the largest gold coin minted under British India and is exceptionally rare. In 2020, a gold British India PCGS AU50 1835.(C) gold India 2 Mohurs sold for a little over $70,000 at Sincona AG of Switzerland. Less than a handful are known to exist in business strikes, and an uncirculated example is not known to exist. A proof of the double mohur does not exist, however, this large coin became so popular that it could be ordered as a proof restrike up until 1970! Restrikes are coins that were once officially minted and coined again at a later date, bearing the same date. If you provided the proper metal mixture, the Bombay Mint would restrike any coin your heart desired for a fee starting in 1947.
Dealers from the United States, Great Britain, and Australia ordered thousands of restrikes. One of the largest purveyors of Indian restrike coinage was department store Montgomery Ward in the United States. A proof restrike rupee could have been had in a blister pack for about $6.99. Orders were no longer fulfilled beginning on July 1, 1970. The dies at the Bombay Mint were subsequently ordered to be destroyed due to mounting political pressure. On January 10, 2022, Heritage Auctions sold a PCGS PR65DCAM Restrike 1835.(B) 2 Mohurs gold coin for $108,000.
The 1 mohur coin is more common than the 2 mohurs coin. But, the coin is very difficult to obtain with a PCGS Mint State grade. Auction World Co. Ltd of Japan sold a gold British India PCGS MS62 1835.(C) 1 Mohur for a little less than $18,000 in 2020. Restrikes of the 1 mohur coin exist, and they are more commonly found than the business strike, and they are very modern looking in appearance. Both of the 1 mohur and 2 mohurs coins can be found in the following set titled India Denomination First Design Type Set (1835-1858) within the PCGS Set Registry.
Coining gold for the British East India Company didn’t last very long, as losses began to mount quickly. After a few months of operations, the British government bought all the gold reserves that had piled up in 1836 from the EIC, and operations for coining gold ceased at the Calcutta mint. The citizens of India at the time preferred to trade gold in the form of ingots. Most of the mintage of 1 mohur and 2 mohurs coins that had piled up in the Calcutta treasuries were more than likely melted and recoined later. Business strikes of these coins do not have a large population at PCGS, and they are more frequently found as a restrike.
Even though the first gold coining ventures of the British East India Company failed, the 1835 1 mohur and 2 mohurs coins are highly sought after by collectors nowadays. The year 1835 also marked when the opium trade began its hyper-growth for the British East India Company, which was later dissolved in 1874. However, the brisk opium sales continued by the British Crown, with almost 400,000 metric tons shipped in 1880 headed to China. By the beginning of the 20th century, the opium trade was on a decline and had nearly ceased to exist after World War I. By 1915, the British Crown had an enormous amount of gold, and more gold was extracted from all its colonies after World War II. It is estimated that the Bank of England had over 2,500 metric tons of gold in 1950.
The Taj Mahal in Agra, India, is known as one of the seven wonders of the world. It took over 22 years to complete, and building it in 2025 would cost over $1 billion USD. This magnificent mausoleum was commissioned by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, and he constructed it in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal, who died in 1631. This building is primarily made of white marble, and the project was completed in 1653. The Taj Mahal has one central dome shaped like an onion, four smaller domes beneath, and four pillars that flank the corners. All of these features of the building are decorated with finials, which are metallic twisting decorations. When the central dome was constructed, it had been decorated with a solid gold 31-foot finial. It was removed and melted by the British government in the early 19th century.
Between 1999-2001, the Bank of England sold off 400 metric tons of gold at an average price of $275 per ounce. Currently, The Reserve Bank of India holds over 879 metric tons of gold in its treasuries, and they added 72 metric tons in 2024. Great Britain currently holds 315 metric tons, and that number has been the same ever since 2002.
If Mumtaz Mahal knew what the mughal king Shah Jahan had built in her memory, she might be singing the chorus “you’re the ruler of my heart” which is part of the 1984 soul-soothing smash hit “Your Love is King” by British smooth jazz singer Sade. Currently, India’s citizens privately hold over 25,000 metric tons of gold. If Shah Jahan knew about this statistic today, he might be smiling as long as the length of the Yamuna River, where the Taj Mahal rests quietly on the banks in Agra.