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Author	Replies: 4 / Views: 1,510
paulheale New Member United Kingdom 12 Posts	Posted 04/09/2012 07:33 am hi can anybody identify this coin Report this Post to the Staff

sel_69l Bedrock of the Community Australia 21788 Posts	Posted 04/09/2012 08:31 am Ancient Indian? What is the weight and diameter? Report this Post to the Staff
paulheale New Member United Kingdom 12 Posts	Posted 04/11/2012 06:16 am hi sel its 4.1 grms and 17mm Report this Post to the Staff
sel_69l Bedrock of the Community Australia 21788 Posts	Posted 04/11/2012 07:24 am I eventually identified a very nearly similar example, illustrated in Brian Hannon's book 'Glimpses of History', which illustrates and identifies a coin from every year, from the invention of coinage up to modern times. It is one of my 'go to' books for a coin such as this. The coin is a silver damma, and was issued by the Pratiharas over the period 730 to 835 AD. The Pratiharas were an Indo Sassanian people of Northern India. The reverse design is a degenerate one, of a flaming fire altar between male and female attendants, moon and sun above. By this stage of design degeneration, the reverse has become just a pattern of pellets. The obverse design represents a stylised bust of the king. The weight you give agrees exactly with the one described in the book. You may wish to Google the 'Pratiharas'. It could be interesting what you may find about these people. The prototype for this coin was perhaps issued by the Gurjahas but the author is not certain on this. He also suggests that it may have been issued by the Harshavardhanas in the period 606 to 647. Edited by sel_69l 04/11/2012 08:37 am Report this Post to the Staff
Sap Moderator Australia 16849 Posts	Posted 04/11/2012 9:07 pm Correct. Here are the zeno.ru pages for coins of this type. The coins are of the class known as "Indo-Sassanian", because the design is an extremely degenerated copy of the Sassanian silver drachm, with the "portrait" on the obverse - the peanut-shaped object in the centre is apparently the king's hairpiece/headgear - while the stripey object on the reverse is what's left of the Zoroastrian fire-altar. Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis Report this Post to the Staff
	Replies: 4 / Views: 1,510

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