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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Ancientnoob, post: 2756565, member: 44140&quot;]One of three unseen coins that arrived yesterday...</p><p><br /></p><p>I hate auctions...but I won this time.</p><p><br /></p><p>I had spotted this coin and two others from a seller in Europe. I bid up the two I didn&#039;t want as bad as I have better examples and let others go after those while the one I wanted I put in a small bid and it went largely unnoticed. I was beaten in the two higher bidding lots but I put in a really small bid on this one and it seemed no one else wanted it, but I really , really, really wanted it. I also made sure I didn&#039;t watch it but watched the others. The plan worked.</p><p><br /></p><p>The prize... The elusive balloon conch.</p><p><br /></p><p>A decent example of extremely late Dvaravati Conch coinage (Mon Pegu Style stuff) I have waited a couple of years for one to pop up (and not in a big Steve Album auction where I get trashed 4 fold)...ah ebay you never let me down.</p><p><br /></p><p>A very nice composite style coin again borrowing from the Rising Sun ( Funan type) and the Burma Mon Pegu types. This coin shows a clear evolution (degradation) end game for the conch series in Southeast Asia. These examples unlike most of the other coinage is chiefly found in a few spots in Thailand and not in Burma or Cambodia proper.</p><p><br /></p><p>This coinage comes to an end no later than AD 1002 when the Khmer Empire of Angkor absorbed the remnants of the Mon Kingdoms of the Dvaravati now residing in Thailand, following the collapse of the Pyu City States. There is little if any evidence the silver coinage of old survived pass the mid 9th century with rise of Pagan in Burma and the Khmer in Cambodia. Overseas trade appears to have been reduced to a trickle. Over the next 250 years Pagan would develop into an advanced society which has left us a wealth of writing and architecture but they chose to never coin money. The Khmer on the hand issued some wild lead pieces but appear to have been only for local commerce.</p><p><br /></p><p>The social and economic structure of the Dvaravati kingdom is largely unclear. It is believed they existed as a confederation of city states with religious, cultural and ethnic similarities. Very little if any writing exists of these kingdoms. Although the Pagan in Burma did adopt there language churned out lots and lots of documents.</p><p><br /></p><p>Thailand, U Thong</p><p>Dvaravati Kingdom</p><p>AR Full Unit (AD 700- 800)</p><p>29 mm x 8.73 grams</p><p>Obverse: Balloon style conch within a dotted border</p><p>Reverse: Srivatsa, open beaded moon above left sun above right. Uncertain symbols - trident (?) left - elephant goad right(?) Fish swimming left in ex.</p><p>Ref: Wicks Class K</p><p>Note: All recovered examples were found in Thailand and can safely be dated before the Khmer Empire of Angkor absorption of the Dvaravati Kingdom. Extremely rare, weakly struck.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]632527[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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