Aceh (1678-88) kupang
This specimen was lot 3552 in Steve Album Auction 55 (Santa Rosa, CA, May 2026), where it sold for $264. The catalog description[1] noted, "ACEH: Inayat Shah, 1678-1688, AV kupang, a pleasant mint state example, PCGS graded MS62, ex Jürgen M. Wilmes Collection." The kupang was a small gold coin introduced in the thirteenth century in the sultanate of Samudra-Pasai. Half and double kupangs exist. Wikipedia comments,
"The Sultanate of Aceh, officially the Kingdom of Aceh Darussalam (Acehnese: Acèh Darussalam; Jawoë: اچيه دارالسلام), was a sultanate centered in the modern-day Indonesian province of Aceh. It was a major regional power in the 16th and 17th centuries, before experiencing a long period of decline. Its capital was Kutaraja, the present-day Banda Aceh. At its peak it was a formidable enemy of the Sultanate of Johor and Portuguese-controlled Malacca, both on the Malay Peninsula, as all three attempted to control the trade through the Strait of Malacca and the regional exports of pepper and tin with fluctuating success. In addition to its considerable military strength, the court of Aceh became a noted center of Islamic scholarship and trade....Sultana Inayat Zakiatudin Syah (c. 1645 – 3 October 1688) was the sixteenth monarch of the Aceh Darussalam and the third sulṭāna regnant to rule in succession. Her reign lasted from 1678 to 1688 and was generally peaceful."
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: gold, 0.59 g, 12 mm diameter, this specimen 0.59 g.
Catalog reference: Leyten-A19a, Fr-16 (under Netherlands East Indies as a general type across rulers).
- Friedberg, Arthur L. and Ira S. Friedberg, Gold Coins of the World, From Ancient Times to the Present, 9th ed., Clifton, NJ: Coin and Currency Institute, 2017.
- [1]Album, Stephen, Joseph Lang, Paul Montz, Michael Barry and Hanbing Feng, Auction 55, featuring Selections from the Swamperbob Gurney Collection of Cap & Ray 8 Reales, the Kenneth A. Bovenkamp Collection of Ottoman Coins and the 1914 Collection of World Coins, Santa Rosa, CA: Stephen Album Rare Coins, Inc., 2026.
Links:
- Aceh (1675-78) kupang, Naqiat al din Nur al'Alam
- Aceh (1699-1702) kupang, Djamal al-Alam Badr al-Munir
- Coins and currency dated 1678