Unusual coins that I have

jedimasterham

Well, I don't know where they come from or how old they are, but the characters seem somewhat reminiscent of some form of Punjab (Indian). If someone could tell me some info about them, I would appreciate it so much!

newbiecollector

I am not able to help but someone will soon.

Welcome to the forum

IstilllikeZARcoins

to the Darkside.

Hussulo

. My first guess would have been Indian as well, but sorry I can't help.
Hopefully someone will be able to help.

lordmarcovan

Well, they ARE old, I can guess that much. I would guess 17th to early 19th century, since I am doing nothing but venturing the wildest of wild guesses here.

India sounds as good a guess as any to me. Certainly they have that central-Asian look. India, Tibet, Nepal, something like that. Central Asia.

They could be ancient, too, but they're a tad too round and thin for ancients, which is why I threw out my 17th to 19th century guess.

They may not be actual coins at all but some sort of temple tokens or something? That looks like a god or goddess on the design.

I wouldn't be surprised if somebody here actually knew what they are. I am not that person, however.

By the way, they have neat patina.

And welcome to the "Darkside"!

DorkGirl

Sorry, I can't help.

DCH

I believe they are Chola Dynasty , Southern India, 985-1014AD

SaorAlba

I have one of these too, they are 12th century Chola Dynasty coins from Southern India. The Chola Dynasty controlled much of S. India and parts of what is now W. Indonesia. These small bronze coins were used in India only though. The figure on the front is a multi-legged Hindu god, but the name of this god escapes me at the moment. These are fairly common coins, usually worth about $5 or so.

jedimasterham

Yay, now I know! That really helped a lot. Now I can tell my father where they're from.

dan8402

<< <i>The figure on the front is a multi-legged Hindu god, but the name of this god escapes me at the moment. >>



Vishnu?

lordmarcovan

I was thinking Vishnu, maybe, or Kali (but she had multiple arms, not legs, right?), and I am not exactly up to speed on my Hindu deities.

See? I told you you'd probably get an answer here! These Darksiders are the answer people!

DCH

It's supposed to be the king Raja Raja, not a god.

Sapyx

These coins are actually from Sri Lanka, dating from after the Chola had been evicted from that island.

This page has some handy information on identifying the monarch from the characters to the right of the "dancing god" figure.

The two reverses that you can see in the photo can be identified from that page as showing the titles of King ParakramaBahu II (1236-1271 AD).

DCH

Sap is correct....

TheKidCollector1991

I have a similar coin, which I purchased in Sri Lanka.
It is from Ceylon, During the period of 1024~1300 or so.
My particular coin is 1192 Lilavati.
The history beneath these coins is tremendous!

TheKid!