Watch List notes:

CHITTAGONG: João III, 1521-1557, AR tanka (10.39g), ND, G--, Unpublished, in the name of João III (John III), IOHANES : III : R : P, Portuguese arms in the center, with a small crescent left & right / IOHANES III R P ET AL, crowned V C monogram in center, M left and A right, imitating the coinage of the Portuguese colony of Malacca in the Malay Peninsula, 1 banker's mark, some weakness as on all known pieces, VF, RRRR. In 1533, Ghiyath al-Din Mahmud, the sultan of Bengal, allowed the Portuguese to establish a colony and custom house at Chittagong. Although Portuguese political control was quickly abandoned, it remained an important Portuguese trade center for more than a century, and was known to the Portuguese as Porto Grande. The fabric and planchet appearance is typical of the coinage of Chittagong and its environs, and might have been struck at Chittagong by the Portuguese during their period of at least partial control over the city circa 1533-1539, or by any one of the other local authorities within the surrounding regions. The accuracy of the Latin inscriptions suggests that the dies must have been produced by a European engraver, almost certainly Portuguese. This piece is said to have been found together with a group of Bengali and Tripura silver tankas, probably not too far from Chittagong itself. We have been unable to find any published reference to this remarkable coin. There were four examples of this type in the hoard, and to the best of our knowledge, these are the only known examples of this type.

Estimate: 800- 1,000 USD