INDIA, Mughal Empire. Zahir al-Din Muhammad Babur. AH 932-937 / AD 1526-1530. AV Mithqal – Tilla (22.5mm, 4.71 g, 1h). Lahore mint. Dated AH [9]36 (1529/30). VF.

Triton XXVI
Lot: 1060. Estimated: $ 100 000

World, Coin-in-Hand Video, Gold

Sold For $ 75 000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Go to Live

INDIA, Mughal Empire. Zahir al-Din Muhammad Babur. AH 932-937 / AD 1526-1530. AV Mithqal – Tilla (22.5mm, 4.71 g, 1h). Lahore mint. Dated AH [9]36 (1529/30). Shahada in circular linear border; oaths of Rashidun in outer margins / Name and title of Babur in ornate cartouche frame; continuation of legend, mint formula, and AH date in outer margin. Rahman –; Album –; ICV –; Zeno 286362 (this coin). Lightly toned, deposits in devices, central flan flaw, minor edge marks. VF. Extremely rare and of great historical importance.

In 1526 the forces of Babur, the Timurid ruler of Kabulistan, won a decisive victory over Ibrahim Lodi, Sultan of Delhi, at the Battle of Panipat. Ibrahim Lodi was killed on the battlefield, and many of his generals and vassals promptly swore allegiance to Babur. Babur’s position in India was confirmed when he defeated the Rajput ruler of Mewar, Rana Sanga, at the battle of Khanwa in the following year.

The city of Lahore, having previously been governed by the Sultans of Delhi, now came under Babur’s control. However, while the Delhi Sultans had struck gold tankas for decades, Babur himself initially struck no gold coins in his newly-won Indian lands, issuing only silver and copper there (see Aman ur Rahman, Zahir-uddin Muhammad Babur. A numismatic study [Karachi: 2005]). The coin offered here, which appears to be unique may have been part of a special issue, given to members of the city’s elite who assisted him while he held the city. It also has the distinction of being the first Mughal gold coin struck in India.

The final winners of all Triton XXVI lots will be determined at the live public sale that will be held on 10-11 January 2023.

Triton XXVI – Session Four – Lots 991-1315 will be held Wednesday afternoon, 11 January 2023 beginning at 2:00 PM ET.

Winning bids are subject to a 22.5% buyer's fee for bids placed on this website and 25% for all others.

We recognize that our users may have various Internet Browsers and Operating Systems. We like our visitors to have the best possible experience when using our bidding platform. However, we do recognize that it is impossible to develop applications that work identically, efficiently and effectively on all web browsers. The CNG bidding platform supports the latest stable major version and stable previous version of Chrome and Firefox.