Hammered Silver Token? | Tibet Tangka, Circa 1900

Thanks a lot DCH

Yes this is a E type Ga-den Tangka ( wavy lines- not dots- on edge of obs), undated but probably within a couple of years of 1900. KM is pretty hopeless on Tangkas as it only identifies by type ( A to H ) with one or two varieties of each. The photos are unreliable too.

The best classification remains a 30 year paper for the Oriental Numismatic Society by Nicholas Rhodes ( which is now downloadable but I cannot give the address due to community rules ). Using this system this is one of the dies classed as E iii - the fish with dots in the NE, a single dot conch to S and an fanned umbrella W.

Scott Semans wrote a paper on these Tangkas at around the same time and mentioned a collector who had identified over 1000 distinct dies!!

There are several distinct dies which comprise E iii and although most of them can only be distinguished by minute variations, one or two unpublished varieties have varieties in the central lotus.

This one though is fairly common and is probably worth $10 - 20