17th century Assam rupee sells for $30,000 at Spink

A rupee issued in 17th century Assam during the reign of the ruler Jayadhvaja Simha made £23,000 ($29,880) at Spink in London.

Assam coin rupee
The rupee reads 'Zang Bao', meaning 'currency of Tibet'

The piece highlighted the Nicholas Rhodes Collection: Coins of North East India auction on September 27.

The coin was intended to be used as a trade coin between Assam and Tibet and reads "Zang Bao", which translates to "currency of Tibet" in Chinese.

Tibet was the traditional route of trade between China and India and was thus courted by a number of Indian states. Assam eventually lost out in trade negotiations to Nepal and so the coin never entered full production.

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