Silver Coin of Shri Shri Nripendra Narayana Bhupa Raja
Museum Name
National Museum, New Delhi
Object Type
Numismatics and Epigraphy
Manufacturing Technique
[Machine Made]
Artist's Nationality
India
Country
India
Provenance
West Bengal
Origin Place
Cooch Behar
Find Place
West Bengal
Patron/Dynasty
Koch
Period / Year of Work
20th century
Inscription
On the obverse there is a "Crest in square segments with legend" and on the reverse, it is written "Shri Shri Nripendra Narayan Bhupa Raja" and has two flowers on either side of Shri Shri, Raja Saka 354.
Dimensions
2.1 Centimeter
Brief Description
Nripendra Narayan (1863-1911) availed himself of the ceremonial privilege of minting coins locally. The given specimen of silver coin had a purely symbolic function. The obverse side of the coin bears a royal crest in square segments with legend.
The reverse side bears the name of the Nripendra Narayan Bhupa Raja and the date is calculated as Raja Saka (Cooch Behar era) 354, which corresponds to 1863 CE. The name has an added epithet Shri Shri, with two flowers on either side of it.
Detailed Description
The Narayani rupee of Cooch Behar continued to be very popular among the local people until the mid nineteenth century, because of its relatively reliable silver content and weight. Narayani coins ceased to be the legal tender in 1845. Even after the formal closure of the Cooch Behar mint, the right was retained by the rulers to strike 101 gold coins and 1001 silver coins on the occasion of their installation. Nripendra Narayan availed himself of this privilege, with locally made coins, used purely as ceremonial gifts. These ceremonial issues had a purely symbolic function in demonstrating that the maharaja still retained the right to strike his own coins, in spite of the fact that he was not allowed to circulate them.
The obverse side of this silver coin bears a royal crest in square segments with legend. The reverse side bears the name of the Nripendra Narayan Bhupa Raja and the date is calculated as Raja Saka (Cooch Behar era) 354, which corresponds to 1863 CE. The name has an added epithet Shri Shri, with two flowers on either side of it.
