Delhi AH 696 tanka
This specimen was lot 32106 in Stack's Bowers NYINC sale (New York, January 2025), where it sold for $2,640. The catalog description[1] noted, ""INDIA. Sultans of Delhi. Tanka, AH 696 (1296/97). Hadrat Delhi Mint. 'Ala Al-Din Muhammad. NGC MS-62. A radiant and bright Mint State exemplar, with rich lustrous glow, sharp strike, and nearly endless eye appeal." Tankas were minted at Dar-al-Islam, Hazrat Delhi and Qila Deogir from bullion looted by the sultan during his campaigns in the Deccan. Wikipedia comments,
"The...Sultanate of Delhi was a late medieval empire primarily based in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent, for more than three centuries. The sultanate was established around c. 1206–1211 in the former Ghurid territories in India. The sultanate's history is generally divided into five periods: Mamluk (1206–1290), Khalji (1290–1320), Tughlaq (1320–1414), Sayyid (1414–1451), and Lodi (1451–1526). It covered large swaths of territory in modern-day India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, as well as some parts of southern Nepal."
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: gold.
Catalog reference: Fr-428; GG-D221.
- Album, Stephen, Checklist of Islamic Coins, 3rd Ed., Santa Rosa, Stephen Album Rare Coins, 2011.
- 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]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, January 2025 NYINC Showcase Auction, featuring the Richard Margolis Collection, Part III, and the Richard August Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2024.
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