Antique coins dating back to the regime of Chakradhvaja Simha (1663-1670 AD) – very rare coins of Assam – has been put up for auction.
Gajalakshmi Associates Private Limited – a firm which deals in auction of antique items – has initiated the auctioneering.
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Tweeting the auction news, the firm has put up a picture of the silver rupee of 11.33 g, with a diameter of 23.12 mm, having Sanskrit legends on both sides, on its Twitter handle.
The tweet has taken the social media by storm with numismatists raising concern over the silver coins going under the hammer and called for concerted efforts to preserve the same.
Chakradhvaja Simha ruled the Ahom kingdom from 1663 to 1670 AD. During the reign, he issued silver and gold coins in the denomination of mohur and rupee. These coins are octagonal and round shaped.
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The obverse of the coin shows the Ahom legend ‘Kao Boi Pha Ta-Ra Heu Ciu’ while the reverse is inscribed with ‘Chao Pha siu-Pung-mung Pin Canlak-ni Plek-ngi’.
The Ahom kingdom flourished for 600 years in the Brahmaputra Valley of present-day Assam. Ruled by the Ahom dynasty, the Ahoms resisted Mughal expansion with great success. The founder of the kingdom, Sukhaphaa, was a Tai prince of the Mong Mao region.
Ahom-era coins make for a fascinating study as it best manifests a unique case of tracing history and evolution of a culture and its economy.
Same is the case with rare coins from Tripura that belonged to the period when the kingdom was ruled by the Manikya dynasty.
The coins that will go under the hammer belonged to the time of Vira Vikrama Kishora Deb Barman (1923-1947 AD).