Replica - Gold Hoan or Hon - Shivaji ND

Reverse

The three line Nagari legend , Shri / Raja / Shiva.

Script: Devanagari

Lettering:
श्री
राजा
शिव

Comment

The ultimate rarity in the coinage of the Great Marathas is a gold coin called Hoan (Hon) by none other than the saviour of Hinduism, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj himself. The obverse of the coin reads in two lines, Chhatra / pati; and the three line Nagari legend on the reverse reads, Shri / Raja / Shiva (MW# T1). Certified by the NGS as XF 45. Greatest Rarity in the Maratha series.

It is recorded that Shivaji Maharaj had gold Hoan coins struck at Raigadh Fort in AD 1664 (AH 1074). In another version of the Maratha history it is stated that only about 800 Gold Hoan coins were minted and showered on the head of the Maharaj during his coronation ceremony in 1674. Nevertheless, now we have actual specimens of these rare gold Maratha coins from the time of the Great Maratha Warrior. Not many coins of these special Presentation Coins of Shivaji are preserved now, as most of them were melted down by unaware people for the metal contents of these coins. But due to the awareness among coin collectors for the love of the Heritage of India, all these rare and historically important coins are now preserved from being melted down in the furnaces of goldsmiths.

It is rumored than only about 10 such gold coins of the Great Maratha King are preserved till date and most of them being in the Museum collections. Two such coins are housed in the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (formerly, the Prince of Wales Museum of Western India), Mumbai; and another in the National Museum, New Delhi.