FRENCH INDIA: ALAMPARAI: AR rupee (11.33g), "Arkat" (for Alamparai), year 23, KM-—, cf. Zeno-139371, in the name of Muhammad Shah (1719-1748), authorized by the French at Pondichery, and marked with a crescent above the word mubarak in the lower panel of the obverse, lovely VF, RRR. Published by J. Brockmeier in ONS Newsletter #194 (2008), pp. 34-36. It is well known that the French struck Arcot Rupees at Pondichery and that their issues are characterised by a crescent by the date. More recently it was noticed that the particular form of the word julus found on Pondichery Rupees is also present on other Arcot Rupees (Jan Lingen, Rupees with the Mint name Arkat, Seaby Coin & Medal Bulletin, January 1980). Taking this a step further, Brockmeier researched the history of the country mint Alamparai (Alamparve) just north of Pondichery. Ananda Rangam Pillai, a merchant based in Pondichery at the time, mentions that when the French began striking Rupees at Pondichery in 1736, the new coin dies were sent from Alamparai with the charter. He also records that the the French governor was instructed to run the mint the same way as at Alamparai by the chief Dubash and representative of the Arcot Nawab, who allocated a die cutter from Alamparai to the new mint. From this account Brockmeier concluded that early Rupees struck at Pondichery would share the same legend peculiarities with contemporaneous issues of Alamparai.
