Tripura SE1452 tanka
This specimen was lot 966 in Stephen Album sale 45 (Santa Rosa, CA, January 2023), where it sold for $2,880. The catalog description[1] noted, "TRIPURA: Deva Manikya, 1526-1532, AR tanka, SE1452, lion facing right, fancy toothed border // 5-line legend suvarnagrama vijayi sri sri deva manikya deva gunavati devyau, citing the second Queen Gunavati, unique and this is the example published by Rhodes & Bose with reference to Cashin, choice EF, RR, ex David Cashin Collection. This example is one of just four Tripura extremely rare types that Rhodes & Bose illustrated on p.121. No additional examples have yet been reported." 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.
Specification: 10.5 g, silver, this specimen 10.39 g.
Catalog reference: KM-, R&B-85 (this piece).
- [1]Album, Stephen, Joseph Lang, Paul Montz, Michael Barry and Norman Douglas Nicol, Auction 45, Santa Rosa, CA: Stephen Album Rare Coins, Inc., 2022.
Link to: