Tripura SE1486 tanka
This specimen was lot 42318 in Stack's Bowers ANA sale (Chicago, August 2024), where it sold for $4,800. The catalog description[1] noted, "INDIA. Tripura. Tanka, SE 1486 (1564). Ananta Manikya. NGC AU-55. Featuring Krishna playing a flute, as well as female attendants to left and right upon a dais, this example stands as a fairly RARE and desirable specimen, with very little wear evident and with a light gray hue throughout." 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.
Catalog reference: KM-74.
- [1]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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