Indian Govt Restarts Hunt For World¡¯s Biggest Gold Coin Which Has Been Missing Since 1987

The Central government has renewed its hunt for the missing "12kg gold coin", which is regarded as the property of the Nizams of Hyderabad and the world's biggest coin ever minted after an almost four-decade of futile search, as per a report of TOI.

The priceless artefact, minted by Emperor Jahangir was reportedly last seen in the possession of the titular Nizam VIII of Hyderabad, Mukarram Jah, who purportedly tried to auction the coin at a Swiss bank. But, India¡¯s CBI failed to locate the coin that was given to Jah through his grandfather and last Nizam of Hyderabad, Mir Osman Ali Khan.

The last Nizam had inherited the 12kg gold coin minted by emperor Jahangir.

TOI

In a book written by former joint director of CBI, Shantonu Sen mentioned that the CBI officials found that Jahangir had minted two such coins. While one was presented to Yadgar Ali, ambassador of the Shah of Iran, the other one had become the property of the Nizams of Hyderabad.

Eminent historian Salma Ahmed Farooqui of HK Sherwani Centre for Deccan Studies, Maulana Azad National Urdu University, who researched the history and inheritance of the world's biggest gold coin, told TOI that the coin is priceless and Hyderabad's pride. She said that now, the Indian government has started renewed efforts to locate the coin after 35 years.

Farooqui reportedly said that in the year 1987 when the Indian officials in Europe informed the central government about the world-famous auctioneer Habsburg Feldman SA auctioning the 11,935.8 grams gold coin in Geneva at Hotel Moga on November 9, through Paris-based Indosuez Bank's Geneva branch, the CBI came into the picture.

¡°Investigations further revealed that Mukarram Jah was trying to auction two gold mohurs in 1987 at the Swiss auction. One of which was supposedly the 1,000 tola coin which was valued at $16million in 1987," she added.

¡°Investigations started and much information was unearthed. CBI officials donned the role of historians, building up on the history of the coin. Many CBI officials, who were part of the investigations, are not in office anymore, so the search remained inconclusive,¡± told Farooqui to TOI.

Farooqui further said that the CBI special investigation unit XI headed by a superintendent-rank officer in 1987 registered an FIR under the Antique and Art Treasures Act, 1972, as per the TOI report.

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