World Coins - Asia & Middle-East. SAMUDRA-PASAI: "Sultan Munawar Shah", ca. 1360, tin large unit (11.29g), Millies, cf. Leyten-SP2b, al-sultan al-a`zam / munawar shah bin // ahmad bin / muhammad bin al-malik / al-salih / khallada mulkahu, written in fine calligraphy within circular border on both sides, a coin of historical interest! EF, RRR. This is the first tin coin that we have encountered from the Sultanate of Samudra (Samudera) Pasai. The use of tin coins is attested from the account of Ibn Battuta on his visit to the sultanate in 1345 (Chapter XXI), but it is uncertain if those were made locally or imported from elsewhere. The names on the reverse match what we know about the genealogy of the sultans from tombstone inscriptions, viz. Ahmad (1326 - ca. 1360), son of Muhammad (1297-1326), son of the first sultan, al-Malik al-Salih (or Malikussaleh, died 1297). The name Munawar Shah on the obverse is a mystery. The same name, written in the same calligraphic style, appears on tiny gold coins struck ca. 1270-90 (Leyten-SP2b), though the present coin is certainly not from the late 13th century given the reverse inscription. It is possibly another name for Zain al-Abidin (ca. 1360 - ca. 1375), or a different son of Ahmad who issued this coin as a part of a failed attempt to claim the throne.
