Madura Sultanate - Jalal Al-Din Ahsan Shah Gold 1/3 Tanka or Pagoda (G&G-MD1)

[Quant.Geek]

Sultans of Madurai (Madura):

Jalal Al-Din Ahsan Shah (AH 734-740 / AD 1333/4-1339)

G&G-MD1: Pagoda or 1/3 Tanka 3.66g

Obv: ahsan shah
Rev: khalifat al-zaman
Rarity: Extremely Rare

This particular coin is NOT mine and was auctioned off by Baldwin's Auction House.

[inscriptor]

is the last one numeral in the date = 6 ?

[Quant.Geek]

is the last one numeral in the date = 6 ?

G&G indicates that the date on these coins are AH735

Cheers,

Ram

[inscriptor]

Ram,

thank you so much for this help. "Live and learn" is the best proverb for me in this case

I'll add this variant of writing "5" to hejira's converter tonight.

Including this one, now I know 7 different shapes of how Arab numeral "5" had been written.

[inscriptor]

Here are the cropped versions of that particular shape of 5:

Are they correct enough?

[Quant.Geek]

Here are the cropped versions of that particular shape of 5:

Are they correct enough?

Looks good to me, but I am extremely new to reading Arabic.  Pattern-wise, it seems accurate.  Its reasons like this that it is important to have a wide variety of images for any particular coin.  It aids in identification as well as exchange of knowledge...


Ram

[Figleaf]

Here is another specimen. Borrowed from Baldwin's site. As you can see, the third digit is shaped almost the same way. That said, I am at a loss how this can be a 5...

Peter

[inscriptor]

I 've found this (particular, I believe) gold coin @ Zeno Database, they also say it is 735: http://www.zeno.ru/showphoto.php?photo=49439

What else might that be? Not 0 or 1 or 2, not 7 or 8, not 3 - because 3 is just nearby and it is obviously different, not 9. Not 4.

So 5 or 6, to my knowledge, and my 1-st thought was - this is 6.

I think we need some strong proof to finally get the meaning.

[Oesho]

The ٤ symbol, is in modern Arabic a 4.
During the Sultanate period and the earlier part of the Mughal rule in India this symbol represents a 5. In Persian the 5 has become an heart-shape, the closed form of this٤symbol.

[inscriptor]

Oesho,

with this discussed symbol, my line of "5" shapes looks like the following on the picture related.

Is everything there correct?

[Quant.Geek]

The coin in zeno is actually the same coin I have shown.  It is from a Baldwin's Auction.  As for the coin shown by Pete, it is actually the same as the coin I have shown here (G&G-MD2 http://www.worldofcoins.eu/forum/index.php/topic,18411.0.html).  There are other variations of the same coin.  According to G&G, these coins were issued on the following dates:

G&G-MD1: AH735
G&G-MD2: AH735-AH739

The reign of this particular shah was between AH734-AH740.  He revolted and declared independence in AH733.  If the numeral is NOT a 5, then G&G needs some revisions for some of its attributions. 

Cheers,

Ram

[Quant.Geek]

Here is a Tanka that I screen-grabbed from G&G for D471 which was issued by Firuz Shah Tughluq in AH785.  It has the same type of 5 as well...

Cheers,

Ram

[inscriptor]

So now I'm sure it is 5.

It's gonna be smth middle between
A. ٤ with a long vertical line at the right side.
and
B. ۵ where the top is open-ended (open-loop).

[Figleaf]

In Persian the 5 has become an heart-shape, the closed form of this٤symbol.

That clears it up. It's the Persian heart-shaped 5 without the upper part. Thank you, Oesho.

@inscriptor: it might be helpful to put the hear shape and the heart shape without the pointy top close together.

Peter

[inscriptor]

>@inscriptor: it might be helpful to put the hear shape and the heart shape without the pointy top close together.

Good idea!

Now done. "W"-like five is now the third from the top, in the column of fives.


Images of coins issued @ 735 and 744 AH had been added to the tab "Images of coins" as  pic #24 and pic #25, respectively.