Indian bar coin from around 600 BCE

Well, after starting with Greek and Roman coins, I've been slowly expanding east, and yesterday I took the time to acquire my 3rd Indian silver coin thanks to @Ancientnoob . It is also my 45th ancient coin, and purchased exactly on the 11th month anniversary of me starting to collect ancients. Hopefully I'll have it in my hands by the end of next week, but I wanted to go ahead and share it anyway.

I don't know much about these, except they date from around 600 BCE and may be some of the oldest coins in the world. And since the round coin monopoly had not prevailed yet, these are bar shaped (which makes them all the more awesome).

Feel free to comment on these coins, or post your own. Here is ancientnoob's picture. I hope to have better ones soon.

 

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Yeah, those are very interesting. Harlan Berk had a handful the last time he was at the Baltimore show, newly found. But none of them were anywhere near as nice as that one.

 

You sure have pretty hands for a white guy.
Cool addition, not really my flavor. But nice none the less

 

I made an investment in these some months ago - a few folks here picked them up. Obviously I kept the best one for myself.

The early long skinny. Near mint.

 

Thanks man - I try and keep them moisturized.

 

That silly BS actually made me laugh.

 

India Gandahara AR Bent Bar 11.3g 650-600 BCE


RARE two dots - also have on BOTH sides VERY RARE

I was told on another site that having two dots on one side was RARE. As I looked at mine further, I have those two dots on BOTH Ends. I was told that was VERY RARE.

Date: BC 650 - 600
Mint: Taxila, Gandhara (modern East Afghanistan/ NW Pakistan)
Denomination: Satamana
Obverse: Gandhara Symbol x 2 (This symbol is only found on early coins of Gandhara) ALso called (Septa-Radiant)
Reverse: Uniface
Ref: Rajgor #540/ 541
ex: @Ancientnoob

 

Thanks for posting that up Brian!

 

I thought I had you in the EX: but, I guess it did not copy!

 

Very cool addition, Sallent ... 45 coins, eh?

Man, you're really on a pretty good tear lately!! (awesome coin-effort)



Yah, I don't have any bar-examples ... but I did manage to score this bargain-punch example from a recent CNG auction (it was sitting with no bids, so I snuck-in and scored this example for the sweet ol' elephant punch)

... coin-itch scratched

 

Funny thing is that I recently read one of my first posts in this forum, from back in November (so it's actually 10 months collecting ancients, not 11) and I estimated that I would take it easy and only get 10 or 12 ancient coins in the next year as I had great self control . What happened? I thought ancients were not supposed to be addicting.

Believe it or not, I've actually slowed down lately. If I hadn't I'd be in coin #50 by now (had I kept the pace I had from January through July).

 

I'm at 52 so far in 2016 but I'm sure mine are cheaper. I'm sure we have a member here over 100, right?

Someone lied!

 

Nice coin Sallent. IMHO it is a coin because it is stamped with the local badge of Gandhara which appears like a flower with three-pronged pitch-fork flower petals.

GANDHARA, Taxili
AR Satamana (bent bar)
ca. 650 B.C.
11.14 grams, 37.7 x 12.3 x 5 mm
Obv: Two Gandhara symbols at either end including a punch mark near center
Rev: Blank with anvil pattern only
Grade: A good VF coin including strong device details and showing no evidence of typical harsh cleaning.
Other: Good silver with overall height/thickness of 7.7 mm thick due to inherent bend of the coin type. An anonymous issue possibly minted in Taxili.

Which of the coins posted so far is the finest specimen?

 

One quick question...how do we know the Lydian stater was the first coin? After all, the Gandhara satamana was developed in the same time frame, 650 BCE to 600 BCE
Is it just a matter of Eurocentric collectors/scholars that have no clue about Indian coinage declaring the Lydian stater the first because it's the one they are familiar with, or is there any real scholarship behind that?

 

I am well over 100 for 2016...

And, gotta bunch of big fish coins this year too...

 

Very nice posts, love the "bar coinage". Got to hand it to India, they produced some really awesome coins!

 

I would be too if I also chased bronze coins.
One of the unfortunate things about focusing on silver is that there are less "affordable coins" in silver than there are affordable bronzes, hence I can afford less coins. Maybe I should reconsider my stance on collecting only silver and add some late Roman bronzes and Indian bronzes, as they are cheap and plentiful.

I don't even bother keeping track of what I've spent on my ancient and medieval silver collection, as it would suck some fun out of it and I'd rather just enjoy the coins and not think of the money, but if I tallied it up I have no doubt it would be enough to get me a vacation in Tahiti, sitting at the beach sipping margaritas with little umbrellas on the cups, or maybe even a week or two in Europe.

 

I still can't see myself collecting these or anything else Indian or related, but its good to see others finding enjoyment in them. Every kind of coin should have collectors

 

Most of mine were AR this year, but some of the AES Grave (bronze) can be much more costly than the AR's. Some of my big fish included 3 Marsic Confederation denarii (one was of 18 known), Several Tets, Carthage AR Shekel, 3 rare AR Etruria's, AR Inceni Boudicca, Carthage AV 1/10 Stater, 2 AR Pre-Denarius RR Didrachmae... and a bunch of other silvers. Also, 5 Aes Grave from the RR...

 

Modern scholarship says coins were developed independently in Anatolia, Greece, India and China around the 7th and 6th centuries BC. It was an idea whose time was ripe in a number of cultures. There is some debate as to the dating of the various first coinages, obviously, but nobody claims them to be strictly an invention of the Lydians anymore.