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Auction: CSS32 - The Numismatic Collectors' Series incl. The Nicholas Rhodes Collection of Tibetan Coins, Tibetan and Nepalese Banknotes
Lot: 101

Tibetan Government, Anonymous, 10-Srang, 16.42g, Dugö Lekhung, T.E.16-24 (1950), snow lion facing left in centre with mount Kailash behind with two suns above, ornaments and two tufts of grass below, surrounded by a circle to which eight lotus petals panels are attached, each containing one syllable of the legend dga' ldan pho brang phyo(gs) las rnam rgyal ("the Ganden Palace, victorious in all directions"), rev. date and denomination in the centre in three lines: rab byung bcu/drug lo nyer bzhi/dngul srang bcu ("cycle sixteen, year twenty-four, ten silver Srang"), without a dot after bzhi (four) at the end of the second line, this surrounded by a circle to which eight lotus petals are attached, each containing one syllable of the legend: 'du 'dgod bde skyid 'dod rgu 'khyil ba (affairs, happiness, objects of desire, turning around) (YZM 527; KM. Y#30; LM 661), PCGS XF40

Originally these 10-Srang coins were struck by the 'du-'god las-khungs to pay Tibetan army members. This office was located within the compound of the Tibetan army at Trabshi to the west of the Government factory and mint. The syllables 'du-'god have the meaning "affairs" or "dealings" and the expression 'du-'god las-khungs refers to an office which was dealing with the salaries of soldiers. This type of 10-Srang coins was struck only during two years and must have circulated along with the regular government issues.

According to D.W.Shakabpa (Shakabpa, W.D.: "Tibetan Currency" Tibet House Bulletin, vol. 7, no. 1, Spring 1992, pp. 2-3) the meaning of the reverse legend is "finance, happiness, wealth and prosperity". The cataloguer thinks that this legend represents the complete name of the office which issued these coins, suggesting that it is dealing with (turning around) the worldly necessities (objects of desire) and the welfare (happiness) [of army members].


1950年西藏拾桑銀幣，扎西造幣廠製，PCGS XF40

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