Catalog
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| Issuer | Tibet |
|---|---|
| Year | 1909 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 21/2 Skar (1⁄40) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Central device displays the Triratna (Triple Gem) symbol in relief, set within a circular inner border and surrounded by a band of Tibetan script legend denoting the cyclic year and denomination. The Triratna motif, representing the three jewels of Buddhism, is rendered with a stylised flame-like finial above a stepped base. A Tibetan inscription encircling the central device records cycle 15, year 43, and the denomination of two and a half Skar. The entire design is enclosed by a raised beaded border at the rim. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Issued under the Dalai Lama's government at the Dode mint in Lhasa, this coin dates to a period of acute political pressure — the 13th Dalai Lama had fled to Mongolia in 1904 following the Younghusband Expedition, and the Tibetan monetary system was being reorganized partly in response to the disruption caused by British Indian trade rupees dominating local commerce. The skar denominations were Tibet's attempt to establish a functioning fiduciary coinage on its own terms.
Dode mint production was notoriously inconsistent, and planchet preparation was crude even by the standards of the day. Edge irregularities and off-center strikes are the norm rather than the exception for Y#10.