Ancient -This is Fun (an) Rising Sun of the Ocean 400-550 AD

Lying on the trade and pilgrimage route between India and China, the Kingdom of Funan in the 5th and 6th century was a powerful and well respected empire in southeast Asia. They practiced Hinduism and later Buddhism. Coinage in the region seems to have originated in the States of Pyu in Burma covered in another thread I posted. Coinage of the Rising Sun type is thought to have originated in the late 4th century in Northern Burma and they style was traded and eventually standardized in southeast Asia. These are thought to be inspired by contemporary Gupta Empire gold coinage.

Hoard evidence suggests an origin in Pyu but the coins have a scattered distribution through out the region. No rising sun coins have ever been recovered in or neat the capitol of Pyu. Three types are found in pockets through out Cambodia and Vietnam largely concentrated in Thailand.


In the seventh and eighth centuries AD the Kingdom of Funan was integrated in Chenla to the North and invaded by Indonesian kingdoms that wished for a foothold on the Asian mainland. The Kingdom eventually fractured into small weak city states and they eventually became a vassal of the King of Java.

After laying in ruins neglected for centuries the vast treasures of the region were ransacked and looted are now dispersed throughout the world. Ooops.



Thailand,Cambodia and South Vietnam
Kingdom of Funan
AR Full Unit (s.400-550)
30mm x 9.37 grams
Obverse: Sun rising over the ocean. Dots inserted into rays, all inside concentric line and dot boarders.
Reverse: Srivasta Temple left field Swaztika; right field Stylized Drum or royal throne.

 

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Love the post title

Great coin, nice design, hefty. Added to the list. Nice writeup too

 

TIF, I knew you would "like" that.

Yea this coin costed me a whopping $25. I was like what?, seriously $25 bucks I would be doing the hobby a disservice by not purchasing this. Maybe I can get Heritage to pump like examples and someone will buy it for $35K. Although it is the most abundant coinage of the region, these are still quite scarce. One would be hard pressed to find a coin of this size, vintage and condition for that kind of money.

 

Nice writeup, never seen the type myself. You got a great deal though. Now I want one too

 

I do not venture this far east, but i do like this specimen ! congratulations !

 

I've seen the coins, and they've interested me very much, but I just don't know them enough to properly vet them. There are always a few Asain dealers that stock them, but ancient coins from Asia make me very nervous.

Anyway, great coin and great write-up.

 

@Matt - You are feeling like buying eastern coins, you are feeling like buying eastern coins...buy them...when I snap my fingers you will believe yourself to be an eastern coin collector...

@THC- Ill meet you in the Kyber on the way back.

@John- Ha, me too.

 

haven't seen anything like that either..another great eastern coin. what cool symbols!

nice write up also...and a great deal for that coin.

one of the awesome thing about ancients, i've been collecting over 2 years now...and i still frequently run into stuff i've never seen before.

 

That's a nice, big, sweet lookin' coin, Noob ... very cool pick-up (congrats)

 

Great coin Noob, i love it..good info too!!

 

@Ancientnoob would be proud of me, I just picked one of these up. Well, "one of these" broadly understood, at least. The seller ID'd it as from the city state of Beikthano, 5th c. CE. As Noob mentions, it is impressive in size... mine is 31mm and 9.47g. I would love to be further enlightened about my new coin!