Nepalese mohar

Mohar (Template:Lang-ne) coin,was the most common unit of currency of Kingdom of Nepal. It was minted initially silver but was later minted in brass,copper and finally in Aluminum during the Malla and Shah Dynasty rule in Nepal, it ceasing to be legal tender in early 2000s due to Inflation. Nepali Mohar through out history had different values before and after Decimalization but in general Silver Mohar was each subdivided into 128 Copper Dam where in 4 copper dam were equal to 1 copper paisa. The values of the copper, silver and gold coinages relative to one another were not fixed until 1903 but instead dependent on bullion value of each metal.Later In that year, the silver mohar became the standard currency and was divided into 50 paisa. It was again remodeled in 1932 as the rupee, also called the mohru(Moru), at a rate of 2 mohars = 1 rupee.

History

Tankas Standard

Nepalese silver mohar in the name of king Bhupatindra malla (ruled 1696-1722) of Bhadgaon (Bhaktapur), dated Nepal Era 816 ( = AD 1696), obverse. Silver mohars of this type were also exported to Tibet where they circulated along with other Malla mohars

Tankas or Tanka were mostly debased silver coin struck in 10 g. weight with minor denominations of 1⁄4, 1⁄32, 1⁄123, 1⁄512 Tanka Dam. These coins were designed on the image of Muslim coins of Delhi Sultanate, Bengal and Mughal Empire which were widely circulated in Nepal by then. Initially Struck by King Indra Simha (-1545) of Dolakha followed by King Mahendra Simha (1560–74) of Kathmandu and finally by all three Kings.Most of these coins had no names and date except the one struck by King of Patan Siddhi Narasimha in NS 759 (CE. 1639).

Mohar Standard

After a major reform in coinage system from Tanka Standard of producing 10grams debased silver coin a New style of silver coins called Mohar(Initially called Mhendramalli ) were struck in Nepal with reduced weight standard of 5.4 g. in silver. All three Kingdoms of the Kathmandu valley along with Gorkha Kingdom struck these coins with little or no modification until the unification of Nepal by King Prithvi Narayan Shah (1723–1775).After the unification of Nepal King Prithvi Narayan Shah and succeeding Shah kings commenced few innovative Modification in their coin by striking with date of issue rather than year of coronation and change in the dating system from Newari Samwat to Saka era

Design

The Initial designe of the reverse of the coin resembled the image of Muslim coins of Delhi Sultanate and Mughal Empire which were widely circulated in Nepal by 17th century .These coins were issued with the name of the reining Monarch with artistic design of Hindu-Buddhist Yantra and patterns encircled by 64 dots representing 64 Yogini .

Types

Originally Nepali Mohar, were made in 5.6 g pure silver, but Later minting of Gold Mohar were also struck during the Shah period

Gallery

• 
  Nepalese silver mohar in the name of king Bhupatindra malla (ruled 1696-1722) of Bhadgaon (Bhaktapur), dated Nepal Era 816 ( = AD 1696), obverse. Silver mohars of this type were also exported to Tibet where they circulated along with other Malla mohars
• 
  Mohar of king Prithvi Narayan Shah dated Saka Era 1685 (AD 1763)
• 
  Nepalese silver mohar in the name of king Chakravartendra Malla of Kathmandu, dated Nepal Sambat 789 = AD 1669, obverse
• 
  Nepalese silver mohar in the name of king Chakravartendra Malla of Kathmandu, dated Nepal Sambat 789 = AD 1669, reverse
• 
  Rare Mohar Rajendra Vikram with Shree 3 on top of obverse

See also

• Historical money of Tibet
• Nepalese coins
• Double Mohar

External links

• [1]

Bibliography

• Agrawal (Ghiraiya), Shyam and Gyawali, Kamal Prasad: Notes and Coins of Nepal. Nepal Rastra Bank. Golden Jubilee Year 2005/06, Kathmandu, 2006.
• Joshi, Satya Mohan: Nepali Rashtriya Mudra (National Coinage of Nepal). Lalitpur 2016 (= AD 1961) (182 pp. and 31 plates).
• Joshi, Satya Mohan: Nepali Rashtriya Mudra (National Coinage of Nepal). Lalitpur 2042 (= AD 1985).173 pp. and 40 plates).
• Rhodes, N[icholas] G[ervase], Gabrisch, Karl and Valdettaro Pontecorvo de la Rocchetta, Carlo: The Coinage of Nepal from the earliest times until 1911. Royal Numismatic Society, Special Publication No. 21, London, 1989 (249 pp and 51 plates).
• Shrestha, Mandakini: Catalogue of National Numismatic Museum. His Majesty Government Ministry of Culture, Tourism & Civil Aviation. Department of Archaeology, Chhauni, Kathmandu, B.S. 2062 (= AD 2005).
• Shrestha, Ramesh: Nepalese Coins and Bank Notes (1911 to 1955 CE). Published by Kazi Madhusudan Raj Bhandary, Kathmandu, 2007. ISBN 978-9937200349.
• Walsh, E.H.: The Coinage of Nepal With a Scholarly Introduction by Dr. T.P.Verma. Reprinted by Indological Book House, Delhi and Varanasi, 1973 (Originally published in JRAS in 1908). (91 pp. and 7 plates).