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THE YASHODA SINGH COLLECTION OF INDIAN COINS
This is a collection that I put together over a course of twenty-five years. When I entered college in my home country, India, I became interested in old coins. No one I knew collected coins. I asked my father if he had any and he gave me two tiny silver coins with Arabic or Persian script on them belonging to one of the Muslim dynasties; I had them made into cuff-links. It was great fashion in those days in India to wear cuff-links made out of imitation Mughal coins but at the time one didn’t know where to go to purchase Indian coins. There were no coin shows, no coin auctions, no coin magazines, just jewellery shops that might carry some. When I came to the United States of America I went to local coin shows and found some beat-up Indian coins that I bought for a few cents. Then suddenly Stephen Album appeared on the scene and, soon after, Randy Weir. I found a treasure trove of Indian coins in their sale lists. From then on I began to collect extensively. Ebay did the rest; it opened a floodgate though I use it sparingly. Now several auction houses also specialise in Indian coins, most prominently Baldwin’s.
At first I started collecting East India Company coins because I found them historically intriguing. They bear all kinds of scripts, were made in all kinds of denominations and sizes, and were minted in troubled times by rulers of every shade. I knew that coin collectors preferred to collect coins of a particular period or type but I wanted it all of them. Soon my collection began to include every Indian period, from pre-Magadhan (6th Century BC) through Republic of India (21st Century AD). I was faced with a dilemma: if I collected every period I would go bankrupt. So I decided to collect from every period coins that were historically significant or artistically beautiful or emotionally important to me and in the best possible condition. That way I could collect from every period the best the period had to offer. Unfortunately, some coins were always out of my range, such as the double dinars of Vima Kadphises or Kanishka’s Buddha in gold. I now regret that I did not collect coins of Indian principalities and so my collection is somewhat deficient. I will let my collection speak for my taste and passion. However, I would like to draw attention to coins from the mints of Patliputra (also known by other names in different periods - Patna or Azimabad or Hazrat Rasulpur), Rajgriha, Chunar, and Tirhut. All these mints lay in the state of Bihar or eastern Uttar Pradesh, which happens to be the region I come from in India. I did not collect these coins specifically for profit but for my emotional satisfaction. It just so happens that Indian coins are now sought by Indians and non-Indians from all over the world and prices have skyrocketed.
Yashoda N. Singh
Ancient India
1001 1002 1001 Indo-Greek, Menander I, Silver Tetradrachm, plain bust to right, rev Athena (Bop 12A). Nice very fine. £150-200 1002 Indo-Scythian, Maues, Silver Tetradrachm, Zeus standing, holding sceptre, rev winged Nike standing, holding wreath (Senior I.IT, MIG 729a). Good very fine. £150-200
1003 1004 1003 Indo-Scythian, Azes, Silver Tetradrachm, Zeus standing to left, holding torque and sceptre, rev Nike standing right holding wreath and fillets (Senior 76.4T). Extremely fine. £400-500 1004 Indo-Scythian, Azes, Silver Tetradrachm, king on horseback to right, rev Poseidon to right holding trident (Senior 99.61T). Very fine. £60-80