A recent acquisition from a reliable coin dealer in Bangkok recently. Starting to explore and research into south east Asian coins as a new theme. Dvaravati. Circa 6-9th century AD in what is modern day Thailand. Small gold unit coin. 15mm 0.8g. Deer and bull motifs.
Thank you.. likewise I have only recently ventured into these Burmese, Thai coins.. I find them fascinating in particular the Buddhist, Hindu and even some Greek influences notwithstanding Chinese too.. I found a few recently which really piqued my interest and will start to slowly post a few more for discussion purposes..
I personally find it refreshing to find out a little more about ancient Asian coins. All that you ever see here are Roman, Greek, and Middle Eastern coins from antiquity. Not that I mind, because I love those types of coins, but it's nice to see what other parts of the world were producing around that time.
Yeah. . Diversity is a good thing.. I collect some Greek, Roman and Middle Eastern too.. but I focus more on coins from Asia.. particularly East Asian such as Chinese, Japanese and silk road civilisations (pre-Islamic)
As I said before, I'm stuck in a rut of my choice, Greek and Roman. This coin is the best Asian I've seen IMHO.
Btw, for those who do not know how to pronounce Dvaravati, its Two-wa-rhat-wadi. They were the successor kingdom from the Funan. The Mon people were an offshoot of the Dvaravati. I don't have a gold of theirs, but many silver. I haven't been able to find a reliable source for others. Lots and lots of fakes. If you want to get into this area @Loong Siew you need the book "From Funan to the Fifth Dynasty". Its the standard. Even my avatar is related actually. Its from Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai defeated one of the last Dvaravati remnants in Lumphoon and became the new capital of the Lanna kingdom in northern Thailand.
I'll help you get out of that rut. Send me any coins you don't want or like anymore, I'll pay the shipping. Then you can have some extra room in your collection for Asians.
@medoraman .. yeah. You are right about the risk of many fakes. I got mine from an old coin dealer with over 30 years in the trade in Bangkok and a second generation from his father. In fact an old shop specializing in coins and antiques instead of a weekend stall or market. I may be new on this but I rely and trust on this old gentleman's knowledge and experience.
@medoraman thanks for the reference too.. I am based in Malaysia and it is absolutely hopeless in getting good reference books here on numismatics. But I am finding this field fascinating and will be trying to acquire more next time I'm in Bangkok
Thanks @stevex6 .. This is a very new field for me and I am still learning and relying a lot on the assurance of true experts.. But even so, I am finding it very fascinating particularly since they are our neighboring country and a Buddhist one in fact.
