Common Identification Marks On Indian coins

Displayed are the “common” identification marks or symbols of various Indian Princely State, Mughals and Presidency coins. The identification marks are mostly aimed towards providing some “lead” (or hint) on hammered Indian coins. Please note that this document is not exhaustive and identification marks may differ on a case-to-case basis. Also the symbols might be crude or off- the flan to be identified properly. Please refer to some reference books such as Krauss Publication books or numismaster.com for more details.

This blog is in very initial state. Any Suggestions/Comments are welcome!

1. Decorated Umbrella or Pistol ßDholpur/Gohad
2. 4 Leaves serially organized or — Leaves ßAlwar
3. Fish horizontal or vertical or 2 fishes ßAwadh
4. Symbol of Samba (or Shiva) ßBanswara
5. — Trishul/Trident Flanked by 2 “C” ßChamba
6. — Katar (or Dagger) Facing up or Flower with 3 petals ßBundi
7.  Flower (different styles) or Sword or “Ga” / “Ma” / “Kha” in Hindi <– Baroda
8. Sword and Star or Dagger (Katar) and star or Only Star ßBharatpur
9. Trishul/Trident horizontal or Star marks both obv. And rev. ßBhopal
10. Temple ßBikanir
11. Umbrella ßBrindaban
12. Cross ßBroach
13. Two parallel lines ßChotta Udaipur
14. Like an anchor or Like inverted Number “1” in Hindi ßDatia
15. Lord Hanuman (Monkey God) ßDhar
16. Lord Hanuman (Monkey God) or Trishul/Trident horizontal/vertical or Star or Leaf or Sun ßGwalior
17. Flower buds or Tiger or Trishul/Trident/Flower symbol ßHyderabad
18. Bull sitting or Leaf or Sun or Bow and arrow or Axe or LingamßIndore
19. Jhar Leaves with a bud on top or star or Leaf or Whisk ßJaipur (Like Kishangard)
20. Bird or Umbrella ßJaisalmir
21. Flag or Round ShapeßJaora
22. Circle within circle of dots ßJhabua
23. Leaves facing towards left ßJhalawar
24. Sword ßJodhpur
25. Jhar LeavesßKarouli
26. Leaf or rectangle with a cross ßKashmir
27. Jhar Leaves ßKishangard (Like Jaipur)
28. Flower (3 Petals) or Star ßKotah
29. Boat shape with one partition, Horizontal ßLadakh
30. Cup (Vertical) ßLunavada
31. Dagger with 2 enclosing lines ßMakrai
32. One small flower and another flower with stem ßMaler Kotla
33. Ankush ßMewar (Udaipur)
34. Lion or Elephant ßMysore
35. parallel vertical lines with one (or two) dividing horizontal line or Dagger inside a circle ßNawanagar
36. Circle and line (like “I” with “O” on top) (Mace) or Flower in a crescent ßOrchha
37. Like a Arabic “2” with twisted side ßPatiala/Nabha
38. Sun or Spear ßRadhanpur (or Sunth)
39. Number “1” in Deva Nagari or Lion ßRatlam
40. Flag ßSailana
41. Bow and Arrow ßSirmur
42. Trishul/Trident ßSitamau
43. Leaf (2 layers) or Leaf (2 Lines) ßTonk
44. Six pointed star or or Shankha (conch shell) ßTravancore
45. Parallel vertical line or Trishul/Trident ßKutch
46. One or two Spear(s) ßRampur
47. Bull Standing ßVijaynagar/Nagas of Narwar
48. Heart shape with “4” on top or Weighting ScaleßEast India Company (British India) Different Presidency
49. Crown ßDanish India / India-Denmark
50. Cross ßPortuguese India
51. Goddess Kali Standing or “VOC” logoßIndia-Dutch
52. Flower (logo) or Crown (crowned lis)ßFrench India
53. Star or Star ßBengal Presidency
54.  (Muhammad) Like a snake vertical or horizontal ßSuri Dynasty
55. Like a Snake or “S” ßBengal Sultans
56. Like 2 leafs ßJaunpur Sultans
57. Parallel horizontal and vertical lines or knot ßGujarat/Malwa Sultans
58. Heart with 3 compartmentsßHumayun (Mughal Empire)
59. Like a Number “9” vertical or horizontal and/or Heart with a line in between or Heart with 3 compartments or the name “AKBAR” ßAkbar (Mughal Empire)
60. Big and bold like on the middle of coin and/or the name “AKBAR” or two flipped “J”ßJahangir (Mughal Empire)
61. “Noor Jahan” symbol (part of word “jahan”) ßNoor Jahan or Jahangir (Mughal Empire)
62. Like a Number “9” vertical or horizontal or Part of the name “Shah”ßShah Jahan (Mughal Empire)
63. ß(Alam) Aurangzeb/ Shah Alam /Alamgir II (Mughal Empire)
64. ßJahandar (Mughal Empire)
65. ßFarukhsiyar (Mughal Empire)
66. Like combination of “C” and “S” — CSßMuhhamad Shah (Mughal Empire)
67. ßAhmed Shah (Mughal Empire)
68. “Cha” in Hindi/Marathi ßMaratha Conf.
69. star inside a crescent (half circle) ßNawab of Ahmedabad
70. Sunflower and/or flag ßBijawar/Chhatarpur
71.  Flower Mint Mark <– Bombay Presidency
72.    ”Tughlak” <– Tughlak, Delhi Sultan
73.  Like a “9” then “1” and then Arabic “5” <– Lodi Dynastry (Delhi Sultanate)

Reference: Krause Standard Catalog of World Coins 1801-1900 6th Edition (pages, 636 – 710)

The World of Islam – Oriental coins and their values by Michael Mitchiner

http://www.coincommunity.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=93062

And various other websites