Srivijaya. 8-12th century. Tin coin. Obverse: water buffalo. Rev: sword or sceptre with rosette border. In exceptional quality. Rare. One of the earliest pre-Islamic kingdoms that dominated most of South East Asia. They were a Buddhist kingdom with a strong Indian cultural influence. Their decline marked by their demise after the invasion of by the Chola Kings of Southern India.
Oh wow, that's a cool little coin, I've never seen that before. Well, I'm assuming it's little for some reason, but yeah...how big is it? Here's a chola coin since you mentioned them.
Thanks. It is 21mm but weighs close to 4g. Most tin pieces have very worn surfaces due to its softness. This one is remarkably well preserved particularly it's obverse
Nice chola coin @chrsmat71 .. if not for the cholas, the srivijaya kingdom may have lasted longer. Possibly even deter the spread of Islam in this region
Amazing coin! Do you have any more information on it, by chance? I've been trying to do more research on the Srivijaya tin units and this is one of the finest specimens that I've ran across. Also do you know of any published reports or websites about the tin coins? I have only ever been able to find blog posts and auctions. Thanks, Tucker
@TuckHard .. Thank you very much. What I can add is that these tin coins were used as barter ingots or small change and worth it's value in the metal as opposed to a face value. Many designs do exists ranging from fishes to crabs and some with images of Hindu gods. My theory is that these are likely equivalent of merchant tokens as opposed to official government central issues. The sword and buffalo motifs I have seen in some auction pieces as well. Unfortunately I have not come across publications outside of auctions or online blogs regarding these. My knowledge stems more from local Malay or Indonesian collectors and sellers.
Very nice early tin @Loong Siew ! I have some later tin coins of Palembang that look like cash coins. Nothing with animals. @TuckHard for the later cash-like tin coins see https://www.zeno.ru/showgallery.php?cat=1933 and for the tin ingots https://www.zeno.ru/showgallery.php?cat=1938 . I haven't seen anything like Loong Siew's. Here is an early coin said to be from Srivijaya. This one is in silver. Sumatra, Kingdom of Srivijaya c. 680-1250, later series AR 1/2 unit, 1.29g, 7mm Obv: Character Na Mitchener NISW 3058var (or 3885?); cf. Zeno 133598 Does anyone more about the silver issues? I have tried to research them online and did not find out much about them. I found a few examples another example https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=2239896 online. Those coins have a fabric like "bullet money"; https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=2478908 looks superficially the same but was seems manufactured differently.
I've also heard that they were used to barter. An Indonesian coin dealer out of Palembang told me that they were locally called "medium barter" and I've also found "media barter" online. I understand that and it's well established for items such as the large ingot coins that their value was essentially their weight, but that leaves me wondering about the very small tin coins that are around a half gram of tin. I've been working on some research about Srivijaya coins, specifically the tin issues. Can I use your picture if I credit you? And also did you potentially have any links or anything else to any of the other buffalo coin auctions? These coins are typically called Namo currency but it is disputed about where they came from. I believe that they come from Malaysia peninsula. Numista has a listing for them that attributes them to the Srivijaya. They appear more silver washed than yours. According to Numista which cites Dr. Michael Mitchiner, the coin may have originated from the "Kalah Kingdom" which appears to be the Kedah Kingdom from c. 634 - 1136 CE. The Namo coinage is also mentioned by Scott Semans on his Southeast Asia Ethnographic Money page. Semans, again citing Mitchiner, suspects the coins originate from the Kedah Kingdom and dates them to the early 8th C. through late 10th C. Mitchiner is the leading source on much of the little-known currencies from this era so without seeing any further research suggesting otherwise I would call these issues from the Kedah Kingdom. Can I use your photo with credit in any research that I'll post here on CoinTalk or elsewhere? I want to make a brief summary of Srivijaya coinage.
Hi @TuckHard .. Apologies for the late reply as I was travelling.. Please feel free to use my picture. It will be an honor in fact..
Thank you very much. Living in Malaysia, it is easier for me to find than most cases. I also collect Malay peninsula tin Pyramid shaped ingots called Tampang as well
