https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/78874 I have seen a few of these but know nothing and have never owned one. Thank you for sharing it here.
Your coin looks genuine to me - (with a little bit of horn silver very probably deriving from the host itself so do not clean) Sorry to say that the first coin posted is not ancient/medieval - it was made in recent times R
Nice. I would love to get one myself someday. I've visited Myanmar a few years ago and loved the country and people there. Sadly they don't use coins anymore for everyday life transactions, just banknotes Q
I missed this thread the first go around but these coins are amazing! I need to get one someday soon. I study and collect from the island kingdoms of Southeast Asia so there is a good bit of overlap in materials. Robert S. Wicks writes about these coins plenty in his work Money, Markets, and Trade in Early Southeast Asia.
Beikthano, Pyu city states, c. 5th century CE, AR unit (96 ratti) 9.47g, 31mm Obv: rising sun, 27 pellets in margin Rev: srivatsa temple, swastika left, bhadrapitha right Earliest version of this coin, whose iconography persists to the current day in the region. Kingdom of Srikshetra, issued c. 800-832, 1/4 unit, 2.71g, 20mm Obv: Bhadrapitha Symbol. A Drum tied in the center with diadems. OR Damaru (ritual hand drum of Śiva); five triangular and globular ornaments above, nine wedge-shaped ornaments; all within beaded border Rev: Srivatsa symbol (the Temple of Sri, fertility goddess) with sun and moon above, conch shell on the right and thunderbolt to the left. OR Stūpa (world-temple) containing the tree-of-life; vajra(thunderbolt symbol of Indra) to left, sankh shell (symbol of Viṣṇu) to right, the heavens (lunar and solar symbols) above, primordial ocean below. Wicks Class D My historical notes on the second coin: Srikshetra or Sri Ksetra was once a powerful fortified city located in south central Burma, and reached its apex between the 5th-9th centuries. The city culturally dominated the region of Southeast Asia from northern Burma to southern Vietnam. The details about the people of Pyu are far from understood. Little has been recovered from Pyu in terms of literature and archaeological evidence. Of the Pyu cities Srikshetra is thought to be the political and cultural capitol. The smaller cities of Pyu met an unfortunate end when in the mid 9th century AD Chinese invaders from the north east reportedly carried off the entire population to be used as slaves. Burnt timbers in the cities confirm a destruction by fire and warfare. Meanwhile Srikshetra seems to have been at its height at this time, but then declined rapidly and eventually was abandoned in the late 11th century. The Pyu had a long history of contact with India and both Buddhism and Hinduism played a key role in the cultural and aesthetic dominance of the people in the area for centuries. Around 832 CE, the Burmese, a tribal people from southern China, rapidly populated the dry plains and eventually absorbed the Pyu people, culture and art into their society. Coinage fell out of use in this area in the 9th century, and did not resume until the 17th.
