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THE NICHOLAS RHODES COLLECTION - COINS OF TIBET20-TAM SRANG GOLD COINSMost if not all Tibetan gold coins of 20 Tam Srang were struck between 1918 and 1921 in the gser khang mint, which was locatedin the western part of Lhasa near the summer residence of the Dalai Lama, the Norbu Lingka. The meaning of gser khang is “goldhouse”.In his unpublished diary Charles Bell noted the folowing:“27.8.20 Tsarong Shape makes a large profit out of his work at the gold mint. The gold coin ser-trang ranks as equal to 20 ngusangs,but actually equals 16 only. Thus on every Ser-trang the Tibetan Government makes a profit of 4 ngu-sang (= Rs. 6). Peoplesay that 10,000 ser-trangs are being coined daily at this mint. I doubt personally whether the number is so large; possibly only1000 are coined daily. Tsarong is allowed to bring some of the gold that he buys himself and pass it into the currency, and take asimilar profit on it for himself. I would think HK that for every thousand coins coined from the Government gold he is allowedto coin one hundred or so from his own gold and take the profit on these 4 ngu-sangs per ser-trang.”There exist gold coins of the dates 15-52 and 15-54 which feature a small bead in the centre of the reverse and others which arewithout this bead. It is possible that this mark served to distinguish the issues which were struck by Tsarong Shape from thosewhich were struck by the Tibetan Government.By the time the last gold coins with the date 15-55 (AD 1921) were struck, the intrinsic value exceeded the face value which isthe reason why the issue of gold coins was suspended after a very small number of coins with the date 15-55 had been produced.472472 (x1.5)472 Tibet, Anonymous, 20-Tam Srang, 10.83g, 15-52, snow lion facing left, the words rabbyung 15 (“cycle 15”) above and lo 52 (“year 52”) below, this surrounded by a circlearound which the eight Buddhist auspicious emblems are arranged in the following order(starting at 12 o’clock and going clockwise): parasol, pair of golden fishes, treasure vase,lotus flower, conch, endless knot, banner of victory, wheel of dharma, rev. without dot incentre of central circle, stylised wheel with eight spokes in centre, surrounded by circle,outer circle contains the following legend (starting at 12 o’clock and reading clockwise):dga’ ldan pho brang phyo(gs) las rnam rgyal/tam srang 20 (“the Ganden palace, victoriousin all directions/20 Tam Srang”) (YZM 1 , KM Y22, LM 1064), in PCGS holder, gradedMS65, scarceHK$30,000-40,000(US$4,000-5,000)WWW.SPINK.COM