Heritage World Coin Auctions
NYINC Signature Sale 3051 8-9 January 2017
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Khalji Sultans of Delhi. Rukn al-Din Ibrahim Shah (AH 695 / AD 1295) gold Tanka AH 695 (1295/6) AU Details (Damage) PCGS, Delhi mint, Fr-426, JNSI IX (1947) p. 116 (pl. VIII, A1), GG-D210. This unique specimen of Rukn al-Din Ibrahim was first published in the Journal of the Numismatic Society of India by Major P.S. Tarapore in December of 1947. The Coinage and Metrology of the Sultans of Delhi by Henry Nelson Wright, published in 1936, notes that at the time there were no known gold Tankas and only two known of silver. While a few other silver Tankas have been discovered, this remains the only known gold Tanka of this Sultan. It was published for a second time in The Coins of the Indian Sultanates by Stan Goron and J.P. Goenka in 2001, using the plate image from the 1947 journal. The strike is well-centered on a typically smallish flan, with appealing surfaces bearing residual luster and few marks of significance beyond a couple of test punches. The pair of test-punch marks, one at 2 o'clock on the obverse and the other centered on the reverse, validate the coin's time in circulation while serving diagnostically to match this specimen to the plates from the JNSI and the Goron & Goenka catalog.
The exact dates of rule for Rukn al-Din Ibrahim Shah are unclear, especially as he ruled for such a short period of time. We know that he ascended the throne in Delhi following the murder of his father, Jalal al-Din Firuz, the first of the Khalji Sultans, who had seized power after deposing three-year-old Shams al-Din Kayumarth, the last of the Slave Kings. Firuz's murder was orchestrated in early AH 695 by his nephew, Ala al-Din Muhammad who deposed Rukn al-Din Ibrahim later that same year. It is certain that Firuz and Muhammad were actively minting coins in the first and last months of AH 695, respectively, likely leaving Ibrahim no more than three to eight months in which to produce his coinage.
Estimate: 20000-30000 USD
Khalji Sultans of Delhi. Rukn al-Din Ibrahim Shah (AH 695 / AD 1295) gold Tanka AH 695 (1295/6) AU Details (Damage) PCGS, Delhi mint, Fr-426, JNSI IX (1947) p. 116 (pl. VIII, A1), GG-D210. This unique specimen of Rukn al-Din Ibrahim was first published in the Journal of the Numismatic Society of India by Major P.S. Tarapore in December of 1947. The Coinage and Metrology of the Sultans of Delhi by Henry Nelson Wright, published in 1936, notes that at the time there were no known gold Tankas and only two known of silver. While a few other silver Tankas have been discovered, this remains the only known gold Tanka of this Sultan. It was published for a second time in The Coins of the Indian Sultanates by Stan Goron and J.P. Goenka in 2001, using the plate image from the 1947 journal. The strike is well-centered on a typically smallish flan, with appealing surfaces bearing residual luster and few marks of significance beyond a couple of test punches. The pair of test-punch marks, one at 2 o'clock on the obverse and the other centered on the reverse, validate the coin's time in circulation while serving diagnostically to match this specimen to the plates from the JNSI and the Goron & Goenka catalog.
The exact dates of rule for Rukn al-Din Ibrahim Shah are unclear, especially as he ruled for such a short period of time. We know that he ascended the throne in Delhi following the murder of his father, Jalal al-Din Firuz, the first of the Khalji Sultans, who had seized power after deposing three-year-old Shams al-Din Kayumarth, the last of the Slave Kings. Firuz's murder was orchestrated in early AH 695 by his nephew, Ala al-Din Muhammad who deposed Rukn al-Din Ibrahim later that same year. It is certain that Firuz and Muhammad were actively minting coins in the first and last months of AH 695, respectively, likely leaving Ibrahim no more than three to eight months in which to produce his coinage.
Estimate: 20000-30000 USD