Tripura SE1448 tanka
This specimen was lot 737 in Steve Album Auction 55 (Santa Rosa, CA, May 2026), where it sold for $1,080. The catalog description[1] noted, "TRIPURA: Deva Manikya, 1526-1532, AR tanka (, SE1448 (1526), citing Queen Padmavati, lion facing right, crescent and bead above, date below within circle and fin-like border // Sri Sri Deva / Manikya De / va Sri Padma / vati Devyau within square with decorative border, test cut on obverse, otherwise a charming example of this rare issue, PCGS graded XF details, ex Nicholas Rhodes Collection, Lot 47, Sept. 27, 2016." 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.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specifications: 10.5 g, silver, this specimen 10.72 g.
Catalog reference: KM-54, R&B-76.
- [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.
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