2017-04-19 Wed

Nasir Al-Din Mahmud Shah III was the sultan of Gujarat from 1537 AD to 1553 AD; with his reign, the decline of Gujarat Sultanate begins, but this had not put any impact on his coinage. He had issued a large number of coins with the different denomination.

Gold coins issued by him weigh around 12g and the silver coins issued by him weigh around 7g. Later in the AH 959, his silver coins were struck with the weight standard of 8.4-8.8g, coins with this weight standard continued until the end of his reign. Copper coins issued by him are common and are issued in many varieties.

‘Al-Wathiq’ legend is inscribed on his coins; this legend reads as ‘Al-Wathiq Billah Al-Mannan Nasir Al-Dunya Wa’l Din Abu’l Fath’ on one side meaning ‘He who trusts in Allah, the most generous, the protector of the world and the faith, father of victory’. His coins come in other varieties too; they are inscribed as ‘Mahmud Shah’, ‘Mahmud Al-Sultan’ or ‘Mahmud Shah ibn Latif Shah Al-Sultan’.

This rare gold tanka of ‘Al-Wathiq’ legend which weighs around 11.9g was sold for INR 60,000 at Todywalla Auction. The obverse side of the coin inscribed as ‘Al-Wathiq Billah Al-Mannan Nasir Al-Dunya Wa’l Din Abul Fath’ and the reverse side of the coin is inscribed as ‘Mahmud Shah Bin Latif Shah Al-Sultan’ within Double Square. Date on the coin is not clearly visible.

To know more about coin click here.