Anonymous Copper 1/3 Paisa, 3.86g, attributed to Sawantwadi by Maheshwari and Wiggins, Devnagari “Sa” on both sides. Very fine, rare.
Maheshwari and Wiggins interpret the letter ‘Sā’ to stand for ‘Sawant’ the hereditary title of the Bhonsale rulers of Wadi or Sawantwadi. However there is no direct evidence for this, nor are dies of such type are found in the assemblage of dies used in Sawantwadi state, which were donated to the IIRNS by the late Shivaram Raje Bhosale, the last ruler of Sawantwadi. The weight of the coin suggests a different local standard. It is therefore questionable if the attribution to Sawantwadi is correct. The initial could well be interpreted for ‘Sashti’ the name of the province where a mint was operational in the 1770s.