Tripura SE1636 tanka
This specimen was lot 753 in Steve Album Auction 52 (Santa Rosa, CA, May 2025), where it sold for $570. The catalog description[1] noted, "TRIPURA: Dharma Manikya, 1714-? and 1728-1739, AR tanka, SE1636 (1714), lion left, border of annulets // 4-line legend siva durga pade sri sri yuta dharma manikya deva sri dharmasila maha devyau with Shiva lingam above, citing his wife Dharmasila, attractive VF, RR, ex George Anderson Collection, ex Nicholas Rhodes Collection." 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 10.38 g.
Catalog reference: KM-199, R&B-236.
- Michael, Thomas, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.
- [1]Album, Stephen, Joseph Lang, Paul Montz, Michael Barry and Dustin Wagner, Auction 52, featuring the Dr. Robert A. Rosenfeld Collection and the Almer H. Orr III Collection, Santa Rosa, CA: Stephen Album Rare Coins, Inc., 2025.
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