Delhi AH 714 tanka
This specimen was lot 2739 in Jean Elsen sale 160 (Brussels, November 2024), where it sold for €650 (about US$823 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted, "INDIA, SULTANS OF DELHI, Khaljis, `Ala al-Din Muhammad (AD 1296-1316/AH 695-715) AV tanka, AH 714, Hazrat Delhi. Very Fine." 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, this specimen 10,95 g.
Catalog reference: G&G D221; Rajgor 999, Fr-428.
- 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]Elsen, Philippe, et al., Vente Publique 160, Collection de deniers liegeois et Collection de monnaies d'or francaises, Brussels: Jean Elsen et ses Fils S.A., 2024.
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