A COLLECTION FORMED BY PAUL STEVENS, SULTANATES Sikandar Shah (AH 923 / 1517 AD), Gold Tanka, no mint, no date, 11.25g (G&G K70, this coin). About very fine for type, very rare. These coins used to be attributed to Sikandar Shah of Kashmir who reigned c.1493-1513 but die analysis has clearly shown that they were struck a century later around the second decade of the 16th Century. This suggests two possibilities: that they were struck around 1521 in the name of Fath Shah’s son Sikandar, who was proclaimed king by one of the factions; or that they were struck around 1517 by Muhammad Shah in the name of Sikandar Lodi of Dehli in gratitude for his support in helping him to regain the throne. The latter option is the more likely. See Goran & Goenka, p.474 notes. £3000-5000
altro