Tripura SE1435 tanka
The first specimen was lot 964 in Stephen Album sale 45 (Santa Rosa, CA, January 2023), where it sold for $780. The catalog description[1] noted, "TRIPURA: Dhanya Manikya, 1490-1526, AR tanka, SE1435, lion facing right, border of solid triangles, two pellets added by lion's mouth // 4-line legend chattigram vijayi sri sri dhanya manikya sri kamala devyau including Queen Kamala, ornate border, bold EF, R, ex David Cashin Collection. Types R&B-67/74 have been assigned to the city of Chittagong." The SCWC comments, "The coins of Tripura are unusual in that the majority have the name of the king together with that of his queen, and is the only coinage in the world where this was done consistently. In common with most other Hindu coinages of northeast India, the coins bear fixed dates. Usually the date was that of the coronation ceremony...." The Tripura kingdom existed before the coming of the Mughals in the sixteenth century. The Mughals managed to seize the flat part of the kingdom but were never able to penetrate the hill districts. The British established a protectorate over the kingdom in 1809. They called the state "Hill Tipperah" to distinguish it from a district in Bengal state called plain "Tipperah". Altho surrounded to the north, west and south by Bangladesh, it is still today part of India. The second specimen was lot 42317 in Stack's Bowers ANA sale (Chicago, August 2024), where it sold for $3,840. The catalog description[2] noted, "INDIA. Tripura. "Victory" Tanka, SE 1435 (1513). Dhanya Manikya, with Queen Kamala. NGC EF Details--Cleaned. An EXTREMELY RARE offering, and one that was considered by Rhodes & Bose to be UNIQUE, this specimen was struck upon a compact flan along what was likely Half Tanka dies. Some light cleaning as noted is observed, but this charming example has nevertheless begun to reacquire color rather pleasingly."
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 10.5 g, silver, the first specimen is 10.61 g.
Catalog reference: KM-48, R&B-73. The second specimen is KM-48; R&B-T-45 (this coin illustrated).
- [1]Album, Stephen, Joseph Lang, Paul Montz, Michael Barry and Norman Douglas Nicol, Auction 45, Santa Rosa, CA: Stephen Album Rare Coins, Inc., 2022.
- [2]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, August 2024 Global Showcase Auction, World & Ancient Coins, featuring The Emilio M. Ortiz Collection, The Richard Margolis Collection and The Rutherford Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2024.
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