Topcat7 Posted July 13, 2022 · Member Share Posted July 13, 2022 (edited) I have a couple of these coins and I would like to know a bit more about them because what I am finding out confuses me. The Kingdom of Kandy is reputed to have existed from the 15th Century to the (early) 19th Century, but my coins have been dated from the 10th Century (985) to the 13th Century (1293). While I can find an image of (similar to) my first coin, I cannot find an image of (similar to) my second coin. These coins are (colloq.) referred to as 'Octopus Man' coins (for obvious reasons). Any information (at all) would help, please? My first coin: Bronze AE20.3mm., and 4.15gm. - 1055-1295 Bhuddist Coin, Kandy Kings. My second coin: 17mm., and 4.5gm. - 985-1014 Chola Empire, Chanragupta II - Drachm Edited July 13, 2022 by Topcat7 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spaniard Posted July 13, 2022 · Supporter Share Posted July 13, 2022 Your 1st coin is Queen Lilavati. Queen Lilavati AD 1127-1200 / 1209-1210 / 1211-1212 Seated Queen, SRI RA JA LI LA VA TI in Brahmi in two vertical lines in the left field / Queen standing, small altar in the left field, various dots and decorations in fields. Mitchiner NIS 837-839. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spaniard Posted July 13, 2022 · Supporter Share Posted July 13, 2022 (edited) Your 2nd coin is Rajaraja. Rajaraja AD 985-1014 Seated king, SRI RAJA RAJA in Brahmi in two vertical lines in the left field / King standing, small altar in the left field, various dots and decorations in fields. Your reverse needs to be orientated 90 degrees clockwise. Here's my collection which hopefully will help you and others attribute the different rulers. Edited July 13, 2022 by Spaniard 11 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Topcat7 Posted July 13, 2022 · Member Author Share Posted July 13, 2022 (edited) @Spaniard Thank you, so much. Your information has been of immense help to me. So these coins are from BEFORE the Kandy Empire or can they be rightfully called 'Kandy' coins? (Also, on your first response you show Queen Lilavati's first reign as 1127-1200. I am presuming that to be a 'typo' and it should read '1197'?) Edited July 13, 2022 by Topcat7 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Snible Posted July 14, 2022 · Member Share Posted July 14, 2022 I am not sure why these are called "Kandy Kings". The Zeno category is Sri Lanka » Native coinage » Medieval period, 600 - 1500 AD » Polonnaruva period from 11th to 13th century AD. Sri Lanka, Polonnaruva, Sahasa Malla, 1200-2 AD, AE20, 4.17g Obv: 𑀰𑀺𑆩 𑆯𑆲𑆱 𑆩𑆬 (=ShRIMa-SAHaSa MaLa or Srima Sahasa Malla) in Nāgarī in four lines in the left field; Seated king Rev: King standing, small altar in the left field, various dots and decorations in fields. AKA 'Octopus Man' Most numismatic references call the script Brahmi, but it is actually Nāgarī. (Richard Plant got it right.) The closest script in Unicode is Nandinagari, but I don't have a font for that. I am using a combination of the predecessor, Brahmi script, and a successor, Sharada script. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtlart Posted July 14, 2022 · Member Share Posted July 14, 2022 In pre Internet days you used to be able to purchase these what I would call exotic coins for a couple of dollars .Most of the time they were not attributed to a specific ruler or date range. My go to reference was "Price Catalogue of Ancient Coins Of Ceylon by T.M. De Silva Abeywardene published in 1952 41pages, 10plates. The Plates are crude compared to the beautiful photos of the above posters. Prices were outdated. This small paperback has its own charm and served me well as I collected these interesting coins. Kandy got it's name from the anglicized version of Sinhala Kanda Uda Rata (meaning the land on the mountain )or Kanda Uda Pas Rata( The five countries on the mountain). 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quant.geek Posted July 14, 2022 · Member Share Posted July 14, 2022 7 hours ago, Ed Snible said: I am not sure why these are called "Kandy Kings". The Zeno category is Sri Lanka » Native coinage » Medieval period, 600 - 1500 AD » Polonnaruva period from 11th to 13th century AD. Sri Lanka, Polonnaruva, Sahasa Malla, 1200-2 AD, AE20, 4.17g Obv: 𑀰𑀺𑆩 𑆯𑆲𑆱 𑆩𑆬 (=ShRIMa-SAHaSa MaLa or Srima Sahasa Malla) in Nāgarī in four lines in the left field; Seated king Rev: King standing, small altar in the left field, various dots and decorations in fields. AKA 'Octopus Man' Most numismatic references call the script Brahmi, but it is actually Nāgarī. (Richard Plant got it right.) The closest script in Unicode is Nandinagari, but I don't have a font for that. I am using a combination of the predecessor, Brahmi script, and a successor, Sharada script. See the google fonts for Nandinagari among other fonts. https://github.com/notofonts/nandinagari... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quant.geek Posted July 14, 2022 · Member Share Posted July 14, 2022 (edited) Here is one that is rarely encountered... Arya Chakravartis of Jaffna: Anonymous (ca. 1284-1410) Æ Massa (MNSI-862) Obv: Seated king on left facing right with Tamil legend சேது(SETU) vertically below his arm. Rev: Standing king with crown consisting two lines and a dot, trident on left under raised right arm. A bull couchant vertically with a circle before it. All in bead circle. group of spheres on right, surmounted by crescent. Edited July 14, 2022 by quant.geek 6 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spaniard Posted July 14, 2022 · Supporter Share Posted July 14, 2022 (edited) 23 hours ago, Topcat7 said: Also, on your first response you show Queen Lilavati's first reign as 1127-1200. I am presuming that to be a 'typo' and it should read '1197' Yes, sorry 1197 it is... @quant.geek...Wow!...That is a wonderful example of a very difficult type to acquire..Thanks for posting. @Ed Snible Interestingly .... Codrington references 4 different legend variants of this coin..Sahasa Malla.. here's two showing the legend variants.. Edited July 14, 2022 by Spaniard 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Topcat7 Posted July 15, 2022 · Member Author Share Posted July 15, 2022 On 7/14/2022 at 7:13 AM, Spaniard said: Here's my collection which hopefully will help you and others attribute the different rulers. From this information I have determined that another of these coins that I have is Sahasa Malla A.D.1200-1202. Is it possible that you could describe the legend on this coin for me (as well), please? Thanking you in anticipation. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spaniard Posted July 15, 2022 · Supporter Share Posted July 15, 2022 (edited) @Topcat7......I'll help as much as I can... Yep good, your coin is Sahasa Malla. Here's a breakdown of legend... Give me 10 and I'll add some more details and links that will help... "Great having an infinite edit option" Edited July 15, 2022 by Spaniard 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sulla80 Posted July 15, 2022 · Supporter Share Posted July 15, 2022 These are interesting coins @Topcat7 Sri Lanka (Ceylon) Native coinage, Sahassa Malla, AD 1200-1202 Obv: Sahassa Malla (or the god Rama) standing front, head to right, smelling on a lotus flower held in his left hand; in field to right, five pellets above lotus flower; in field to left, altar. Rev: SRIMA SAHASA MALLA (in Brahmi) Hanuman leaping across the straits to Sri Lanka to rescue Sita or Sahassa Malla seated front, head to right, holding uncertain object in his left hand. Note: my favorite quick reference resource (after @Spaniard) for these coins is here 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Topcat7 Posted July 15, 2022 · Member Author Share Posted July 15, 2022 1 hour ago, Sulla80 said: These are interesting coins @Topcat7 Sri Lanka (Ceylon) Native coinage, Sahassa Malla, AD 1200-1202 Obv: Sahassa Malla (or the god Rama) standing front, head to right, smelling on a lotus flower held in his left hand; in field to right, five pellets above lotus flower; in field to left, altar. Rev: SRIMA SAHASA MALLA (in Brahmi) Hanuman leaping across the straits to Sri Lanka to rescue Sita or Sahassa Malla seated front, head to right, holding uncertain object in his left hand. Note: my favorite quick reference resource (after @Spaniard) for these coins is here Some very good information here. Thank you. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spaniard Posted July 15, 2022 · Supporter Share Posted July 15, 2022 1 hour ago, Sulla80 said: Note: my favorite quick reference resource (after @Spaniard) for these coins is here Ok.......But at the moment out with friends 38 degrees looking out over the Med........Nice wine and tapa....Will call back in tomorrow'ish...🤪 btw @Sulla80....Very nice looking coin!....If you don't mind I'll use it as an example tomorrow to breakdown the details of ob and rev? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Furryfrog02 Posted July 15, 2022 · Supporter Share Posted July 15, 2022 I've never heard them called "Kandy Kings" I picked up a few examples on the cheap when the seller listed them as Late Roman Bronzes... Lilavati Rajaraja Sahasa Malla 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alegandron Posted July 16, 2022 · Supporter Share Posted July 16, 2022 Sri Lanka Bhuvanaika Bahu CE 1273-1284 Æ Massa 3.9g 19mm King throne solar symbol altar flame lotus - conch Bahu MNI 851-52 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sulla80 Posted July 16, 2022 · Supporter Share Posted July 16, 2022 15 hours ago, Spaniard said: Ok.......But at the moment out with friends 38 degrees looking out over the Med........Nice wine and tapa....Will call back in tomorrow'ish...🤪 btw @Sulla80....Very nice looking coin!....If you don't mind I'll use it as an example tomorrow to breakdown the details of ob and rev? Sounds pretty nice, I certainly don't mind if you use my coin to illustrate - I do mind that I am not sitting eating tapas, drinking wine and looking out over the Mediterranean 😉 6 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quant.geek Posted July 16, 2022 · Member Share Posted July 16, 2022 A few more that are rarely seen: Ceylon: Nissanaka Malla (1187-1196) AE Massa (Mitchiner 835, Codrington 78) Ceylon: Codaganga (1196-1197) AE Massa (Codrington 79) Ceylon: Parakrama Bahu VI (1415-1468) AE Massa (Mitchiner 853, Codrington 97) 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sulla80 Posted July 16, 2022 · Supporter Share Posted July 16, 2022 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TuckHard Posted July 17, 2022 · Member Share Posted July 17, 2022 On 7/14/2022 at 2:47 PM, quant.geek said: Here is one that is rarely encountered... Arya Chakravartis of Jaffna: Anonymous (ca. 1284-1410) Æ Massa (MNSI-862) Obv: Seated king on left facing right with Tamil legend சேது(SETU) vertically below his arm. Rev: Standing king with crown consisting two lines and a dot, trident on left under raised right arm. A bull couchant vertically with a circle before it. All in bead circle. group of spheres on right, surmounted by crescent. Wow, this one is definitely cool. I've never seen one with one with this sideways recumbent bull like this! Small but deliberate design choices like this are my favorite. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quant.geek Posted July 18, 2022 · Member Share Posted July 18, 2022 On 7/16/2022 at 7:49 PM, TuckHard said: Wow, this one is definitely cool. I've never seen one with one with this sideways recumbent bull like this! Small but deliberate design choices like this are my favorite. Yeah..It came in a group lot with a Raja Raja Chola fish-emblem coin (see below), two Ptolemaic coppers, and a few medieval and modern European coins that was greatly underappreciated by bidders on Ebay a few years ago. I was so ecstatic when I won the lot! Imperial Chola: Raja Raja I (ca. 1007) AE Kasu (Biddulph-21) Obv: King half seated, with raised arm on right; Devanagari legend beneath raised arm; श्री राजा राजा (Sri Raja Raja) Rev: Standing man, with lamp on left and fish on right, representing the Pandyan conquest 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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