News Archive

Indian and Islamic Coins in November Coin Auction (25/11/04)

A rare Abbasid dinar of al-Mustakfi (944-946) is being offered at Spink’s November 25th coin auction. This coin (lot no. 367, estimate £2000-2,500) is dated AH334 and was struck at Madinat es-Salam. It names al-Mustakfi’s heir and also his amir, al-Muzaffar Abu’l-Wafa, who died only three weeks into the year AH334. Very few of these coins are known and they are very rarely offered for sale, so this is a good opportunity for collectors of Islamic coins to fill a gap in their collections.

Other rarities include two unlisted rupees of the Indian state of Bahawalpur dated AH1343, similar to the pattern coins listed in Krause & Mishler (KM.14), but presumably intended to be circulating coins, as, unlike the proofs, their weight is closer to that of a normal rupee (lot nos.303-304, estimate £50-70).

Two large collections form the backbone of the Indian and Islamic offerings at the November 25th auction.The first is an impressive collection of coins of the Indian Sultanates formed over the last 15 years by an avid collector of this series. Many new and previously unrecorded types are featured, including a square Tanka of the Sultan of Delhi, Qutb al-Din Mubarak (1316-20), struck at the previously unrecorded mint of Qila Qutbabad (lot no. 244, estimate £350-400). The collection is also particularly strong in the smaller denominations, which are in unusually good condition, having been carefully selected over the years.

The second main collection features gold coins of Egypt, from the Fatimid period (lots 368 to 373) to later proof and limited edition issues of the 20 and 21st centuries (lots 412-447). This collection is also strong in 18th and 19th century Ottoman coins including a scarce gold Altin of Ahmed III (1703-30) (lot no.377, estimate £250-300) and the rare 40-Para of Abdul Aziz (1861-76) with a flower to the right of the toughra (lot no.393, estimate £300-400).

The section also includes some unusual gold Kupangs of Macassar (lots 327-328) and Sumatra (lots 358-359).

Please direct any enquiries about this section of the sale to Barbara Mears.