You must have seen gold coins of 10 grams, 20 grams, and 50 grams, but do you know the weight of the giant gold coin in the world? The world’s largest gold coin weighs about 12 kg, and the funny thing is that it was minted in India. Even though this coin has disappeared in today’s time, it has been enhancing the glory of the vault of the kings and nawabs of India for centuries. Now the central government has again started the search for this coin afresh.
Mukarram Jah tried to sell
The central government had started searching for this gold coin about four decades ago. However, the CBI could not get success in finding it then. It was last seen near the titular Nizam VIII of Hyderabad Mukarram Jah, the royal family of Hyderabad, who allegedly tried to auction it at a Swiss bank. Jah had inherited this coin from the last Nizam and his grandfather, Mir Osman Ali Khan. Although the CBI had tried to locate it at the time of that alleged auction, but could not succeed.
Jahangir had two giant coins minted.
It is said that Emperor Jahangir minted this coin. Salma Ahmed Farooqui, a historian and professor at the HK Sherwani Center for Deccan Studies, has been told in the news that an attempt was made to auction it in Geneva in 1987. Indian officials present in Europe informed the government about the alleged auction.
It was reported auctioned in 1987 at Hotel Moga in Geneva on 09 November. Habsburg Feldman SA was trying to auction this coin with the help of the Geneva branch of Indosuez Bank in Paris. The CBI took the matter into its own hands. The investigation started, and a lot of information came out, but the coin could not be traced.
There was no success in the CBI investigation.
He said that the CBI officers did the work of historians. Many CBI officers involved in that investigation have now retired, due to which the investigation could not reach any conclusion. Shantanu Sen, former Joint Director of CBI, has also mentioned this coin in his book. He said that Emperor Jahangir had minted two such coins. One coin was given to Yadgar Ali, the ambassador of the Shah of Iran, and the other came to the Nizam of Hyderabad.
The value of the coin was calculated so much.
Professor Salma has been told in the news that the Special Investigation Unit XI of the CBI had registered a case in 1987 under the Antique and Art Dredgers Act. Investigation revealed that Mukarram Jah had tried to sell two gold seals at a Swiss auction in 1987. The weight of one of them was 1000 tola. In 1987, the value of that coin was estimated at $ 16 million. He said this auction was done before Jah attempted to take a loan of 09 million Swiss francs in 1988.
Shantanu Sen tells in his book that in the conversation between the bank and Mukarram Jah, there has been mention of two coins being pledged instead of loans. These coins were pledged to finance two companies, Chrysler Services and Tamarind Corporation, for sheep rearing in the Caribbean. He said many years have passed, but nothing of the historical coin has been found. He expressed hope that perhaps the new effort of the central government would get some success.
