Kar Sho and Sang coinage 1909-1953
After the flight of the 13th Dalai Lama from the British to Mongolia on his return to Tibet in 1909 he introduced a decimal coin system with 1 Sang equalling 10 Sho and 1 Sho equalling 10 Kar (and 1 Sang therefore equalling 100 Kar). Still the coin denominations remember the old Tamka system with its fractions from cutting to which the population got used over hundreds of years. E.g. the 3 Sang coin equals 20 Tamkas, the 1,5 Sang coin 10 Tamkas, 3 Sho equals 2 Tamkas, 1 Sho equals a cut Tamka with 5 petals, 7,5 Kar equals a cut Tamka with 4 petals (or half a Tamka) and 5 Kar a cut Tamka with 3 petals. For the cut coinage please look for Nepali coins for Tibet. Here the main normal types. For special error coins or varieties see my special coins list. The correct transliteration for the coins is srang, while the pronounciation (or transcription) is "Sang", zho "Sho" and skar "Kar".
| 20 Sang KM Y#22 |  |
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10 Sang KM Y#30 years 16-24 and 16-25. The Tibetan name of the coin is bcu sgor |
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10 Sang KM Y#30 year 25 minted over 24. This coin with the 4 so clearly visible on right of the 5 is quite rare. The Tibetan name of the coin is bcu sgor |
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10 Sang KM Y#29.1 year 16-23 (two suns) The Tibetan name of the coin is bcu sgor |
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10 Sang KM Y#29a years 16-23 to 16-26 The Tibetan name of the coin is bcu sgor |
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10 Sang KM Y#29a year 23 (moon and sun). This coin is quite rare. The Tibetan name of the coin is bcu sgor |
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10 Sang KM Y#29 The Tibetan name of the coin is bcu sgor |
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3 Sang KM Y#26 years 16-9, 16-10, 16-11, 16-12 and 16-20. Years 16-9 and 16-20 are more rare. The Tibetan name of the coin is srang gsum sgor mo |
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3 Sang KM Y#25 years 16-7 and 16-8 The Tibetan name of the coin is srang gsum sgor mo |
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1,5 Sang KM Y#24 years 16-10, 16-11, 16-12 and 16-20. Year 16-20 is very rare. The Tibetan name of the coin is srang gang zho lnga sgor mo |
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5 Sho KM Y#28 (two mountains) only year 16-21. This coin is a bit more rare than the usual 5 Sho types. |
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5 Sho KM Y#28.1 with two suns, only years 16-21, 16-22, 16-23 and 16-24 The Tibetan name of the coin is zho lnga sgor mo like all other copper 5 Sho coins below. |
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5 Sho KM Y#28.2 without clouds over the central mountain, year 16-22. This coin is quite rare. |
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| 5 Sho KM Y#28a with moon and sun, years 16-23, 16-24, 16-25, 16-26, 16-27 |  |
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| 3 Sho KM Y#27.1 single cloud line |  |
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3 Sho KM Y#27.2 with double cloudline. Quite rare coin. |
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1 Sho KM Y#21. Very rare! The Tibetan name of the coin is zho ganglike all other 1 Sho coins. lion looking up |
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1 Sho KM Y#21b. Very rare! lion looking back |
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1 Sho KM Y#21.1
without dot in the arabesque |
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1 Sho KM Y#21.2 with dot in the arabesque |
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1 Sho KM Y#21a letters of the denomin- Years 15-56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 16-1, 16-2. Year 15-56 is rare. |
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1 Sho KM Y#23 years 16-6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. Years 6, 7, 8, 12 are more rare than 9, 10, 11. A very rare year is 16-16. |
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7,5 Kar KM Y#20 years 15-52, 53, 54, 55, 56 and 60. Year 15-60 is very rare. The Tibetan name of the coin is skar phyed brgyad (Kar a half to 8 = 7,5 Kar) |
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5 Kar KM Y#19 years 15-52, 53, 54, 55, 56. The Tibetan name of the coin is skar lnga chung nga or skar chung |
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5 Kar KM Y#19.1 omly years 15- 55 and 56 |
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| 2,5 Kar KM Y#A19 |  |
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5 Sho silver KM Y#18 lion looking up |
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5 Sho silver KM Y#18.1 lion looking back |
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5 Kar KM Y#17 years 15-47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52 years 15-47 and 15-52 are very rare The Tibetan name of the coin is skar chen lion looking up |
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5 Kar KM Y#17.1
years 15-49, 50, 51, 52.
lion looking back
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5 Kar KM Y#17.2 more rare and usually in bad condition there is many more varieties among those! |
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5 Kar KM Y#17.3 more rare and usually in bad condition |
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2,5 Kar KM Y#16.1 The Tibetan name of the coin is kha gang or skar phyed gsum lion looking up |
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2,5 Kar KM Y#16.2 lion looking back |
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| 1 Sang KM Y#12 |  |
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| 7,5 Kar KM Y#11 |  |
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| 5 Kar KM Y#A10 |  |
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| 2,5 Kar KM Y#10 |  |
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| 10 Tam KM#Pn3 |  |
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| 1 Sang KM Y#9 |  |
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5 Sho KM Y#8 |
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1/4 Sho KM Y#B7 dated as shong thong khri lo 1 (Xuantong throne year 1). This is 1908-1909. |
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| 1/8 Sho KM Y#A7 |  |
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| as for the 1910 issues of KM Y#A4, 4, 5, 6 please see the page on Sino-Tibetan coinage | as for Tamkas please see the page on Tamkas | |
| The above coins are mostly for reference. Still I have many of those in stock. Please request availability and prices for special coins. | ||
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