Delhi AH 748 tanka
This specimen was lot 76416 in Stack's Bowers Collectors Choice sale (Costa Mesa, CA, September 2024), where it sold for $1,200. The catalog description[1] noted, "INDIA. Sultans of Delhi. Tanka, AH [74]8 (1347/48). Hadrat Delhi Mint. Muhammad bin Tughluq (in the name of Al Hakim II). NGC MS-62. This appealing and alluring Mint State specimen delivers enchanting luster, with sharp strike details and much in the way of charming eye appeal. Nicely lustrous and fully struck." Numismatically, the sultans of Delhi are best known for an extensive series of gold coins (Fr-402 thru Fr-502) starting about AH 589 (1193 AD). Most of the rulers had very short tenures but Mohammad III survived twenty-six years (AH 725-752).
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."
The sultanate reached its territorial maximum during the reign of Muhammad bin Tughluq, reaching from Kashmir to Madras and from the Indus to Bengal. His issue of debased coinage, such as this six gani, encouraged counterfeiting and disrupted trade.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: gold.
Catalog reference: GG-D441.
- 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, September 2024 World Collectors Choice Online Auction, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2024.
Link to:
- Delhi AH 736 tanka = 1335
- Delhi AH 738 6 gani = 1337
- Delhi AH 948 rupee = 1541
- Coins and currency dated 1347