2017-03-24 Fri

This beautiful gold tanka was issued by Gujarat Sultan, Shams Al-Din Muzaffar Shah III. The reign of Muzaffar Shah begins from 1560 and goes on to 1573 AD. As his reign begins, Gujarat Sultanate was carved into personal fiefdoms by various nobles and adventurers. Even though he lacked much authority during his reign, coins were struck in his name.

He issued coins in gold, silver, and copper. Most of his coins were struck at Ahmadabad. His gold coins were struck at the standard weight of 12g and are rare. The silver tanka issued by him was struck with the standard weight of 7-7.5g, but the weight standard was lowered at the later stage of his reign. Silver tankas were struck with two weight standards 10.5 to 10.8 and 8.8 to 9.5.

This mintless gold tanka of ‘Al-Mu’ayyad –nasir legend’ weighs around 11.8g. The obverse of this coin reads as ‘Al-Mu’ayyad bi-ta’yid Al-Rahman Shams Al-Dunya Wa’l Din Abul Nasr'. And the reverse of the coin reads as ‘Muzaffar Shah Bin Mahmud Shah Al-Sultan' with date AH 978. This coin was sold for INR 45,000 at Rajgor’s Auction.