Love my Indian homies...

Just got a package from Gujarat with a nonet of exotic goodies.

 

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Nice. What are the two middle silvers?

 

HOMIES...

 

Nice selection, I like Indian coins from Kushan period right to end of British Rule. Tripura coins are beautifull but VEEERRRRY $$$$$$$

 

Oh my...so much win in that picture. I'm trying very hard to keep from drooling.

Did I mention what a handsome, kind and generous man you are? Why it's so good of you to agree to send me one of those as a late birthday gift.

So...did it work?

 

Indo-Greek, Bactria, drachms of Apollodotus, 1st-dentury BC. Bilingual with Greek and Kharosthi legends.

 

Awesome, I like those bactrian coins I'll have to pick one up some day.
Is that a Fleur-de-lis in the top middle coin?? I had no idea that symbol was so old, very cool.

 

It's not old, it's a coin of the French India Company, called a doudou. I also like modern coins that were made with ancient techniques.

 

Me too! I missed out on a "mint state" Stater from Diodotus I in Goldberg Auction, got outbid while at work Man was that coin nice!!!!

 

ahhh gotcha. It did fool me for an ancient, cool how some cultures were still using the ancient technique for so long. Good pick ups man.

 

oh neat...i'm at least somewhat interested in all of them..even the moderns. i've wanted one of those "chicken coins" and a "thick elephant coin" for while. i don't actually know what they are...but i want one.

 

Nice little lot !
(The chicken is a Cambodian Hamsa bird. The thick elephant is a Satavahana copper.)

 

Nice haul! The broad, thin silver in the bottom row is a "Ga-Den"-style tanka from Tibet, late 19th to early 20th century.

 

Taking real images today. As THCoins states, the chicken is the Hamsa bird on a Cambodian coin - not ancient, c. 1847, but as I said, I like modern coins made with basically ancient techniques. These are simple, uniface coins, struck without a collar obviously. Small, but of good silver, the denomination is 1 Fuang. Robin Danziger of Educational Coin has an elegant write-up on the significance of the Hamsa bird...

The Hamsa bird, a swan of Cambodian myth, has been a sacred animal to Hindus for three millennia, and figures prominently in the Upanishads, the Hindu holy books written circa 900 BCE. Prized for its ability to gracefully navigate three elements—it walks on land, flies in the air, and swims on water—the Hamsa bird is the mount of Saraswati, the Hindu goddess of knoweldge and the arts. Legend has it that the Hamsa eats pearls, and that it lives in water but does not get wet.

The first syllable—ham—is the sound of the intake of breath; the second syllable—
sah—is the sound of exhalation. In this way, the Hamsa bird represents the prana, the cosmic breath so integral to the practice of yoga. The name of the bird is a Sanskrit play on words. When used as a mantra, the syllables ham and sa become soham, Sanskrit for I am the universe. Thus the bird represents the Supreme Spirit, the Brahman,from which all of the universe is made, and its flight represents the soul escaping from samsara, the cycle of birth, life and death that is repeated through reincarnation.

Good luck, purity, enlightenment—all of these are symbolized by the Hamsa bird. When you hold this coin, metaphorically speaking, you have the whole of the universe in the palm of your hand. -Robin Danziger

 

Those are beautiful! I could catch Indian ancients fever if I'm not careful!

 

This elephant is an 18th-century issue of Tipu Sultan. Earlier in the year I bought what I considered the finest known specimen of a TS fanam, shown here next to the humble bronze. The fanam now belongs to another forum member. The bronze is a 1/2 Paisa denomination, according to the dealer. I have some catalogs of his coinage on order, but I can't verify yet.

 

Here is the Satavahana elephant, a bona fide ancient. The trunk is a bit clipped, but those of you that know these coins know just how crappy they can be: wildly off-center, decrepit preservation, etc. I thought this coin was just super...



Btw, this little map from wiki is great for understanding some of the basics of ancient Indian empires...

 

This is way out of my comfort zone but I see the first elephant as year dated 1221? (AM or Mauludi=1793), perhaps Patan? I am extrapolating this from Mitchiner 600-1979 volume which I rarely have a chance to open. Searching for Mysore turns up more results.

The second seems different legend from my two which suffer from my selecting coins with trunks rather than legends. My second suggests the reverse was struck on a surface with more than one set of circles which only shows because of the poor centering. ID's less than certain.
Gautamiputra Satakarni


Vasisthiputra Sri Pulomavi

 

Very nice!

 

JA's elephant = Yajna Satakarni.
The extra semicircle on Doug' s specimen is supposed to be there. It is part of the Satakarni symbol, but usually off flan.