Indian Temple Tokens

Discussion in 'World Coins' started by spiraltreet, Jan 20, 2007.

  1. spiraltreet

    spiraltreet New Member

    I've noted a lot of enquiries about the temple tokens. I'll try to share some of the knowledge I've acquired about these magnifiscent works of art. I'm afraid, a lot of tokens offered in eBay as British India coins were infact temple tokens. But what is disgusting is that about 90% of them are relatively new (created within 10 to 20 years) especially so if the token's reverse is having British India coins images and denomination. People are often fooled by these tokens. And you might have noticed their condition.. Almost all of these tokens offered in eBay are in UNC condition. Infact these tokens are minted in some parts of India and are distributed through various temples. This is one of the revenue sources of certain temples. Their actual value here in India is about 1$ to 2$. Nothing more. And you can get any number of them. But, there are certain tokens which are quite rare. But, even then, their price would be anywhere between 5$ to 20$. And 99% of these tokens are circulated among the devotees. So, there would be some signs of circulation. I'll be trying to post pictures of some of the old tokens. The most important deities feature in these tokens are Hanuman (monkey who helped God Rama), Rama and Sita, Krishna, Shiva, Kali etc.. The most common of them are Hanuman, Rama and Sita. Please note that some coins from the Princely State coins also have images of monkey. But, they (coins with the image of monkey) definitely wont feature any British India images or those of Rama and Sita. Here is an original brass token from the 19th C. I'll post more pictures in the coming days in this thread.
     
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  3. spiraltreet

    spiraltreet New Member

    forgot to attach the pictures... :eek:
     

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  4. Ian

    Ian Coin Collector

    Here's one of my `temple tokens' / tanka. I know a little about it, but not a lot. What can you tell me?

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
  5. Drusus

    Drusus Pecunia non olet

    I love the indian temple tokens...I dont have any but many have very nice designs
     
  6. spock1k

    spock1k King of Hearts

    please tell me all you can about this coin. i am going crazy.
     

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  7. Bonedigger

    Bonedigger New Member

    Those little square Hindu/Mughal Islamic coins are very interesting. Here is another 1/2 Tanka from the reign of Mahmud Shah, Sultan of Malwa. A little before the Mughal period.

    Take Care
    Ben
    [​IMG]
     
  8. Ian

    Ian Coin Collector

    That little one of mine is 22 mm x 22mm, roughly the same size as a rupee of that time frame, and (roughly) the same amount of silver. I'm pretty sure that it is the typical legend of `there is but one god, and his name is Allah, and Mohammed is his prophet' on one side, but I haven't a clue about the other.
     
  9. spiraltreet

    spiraltreet New Member

    Spock, this is one of the tokens I was talking about. This is indeed a temple token which is minted very recently. This is a common type having Rama, Sita and Hanuman. To confuse the collectors, the vendors call these tokens 'Ramatanka'.
    And about Ian's square coin, I'm not able to tell anything much now. But I'll definitely find something about it and post that here. My first impression is that it is a coin and not a token. However, I'll clarify it very soon.
     
  10. spiraltreet

    spiraltreet New Member

    Ian, it is a silver temple(Masjid) token minted based on the design of Akbar Rupee. There were several types of tokens like these which, were issued by various Juma Masjids for supporting themselves. These are belived to be issued in the later half of 18th C or in the first half of 19th C. Value is approximately 20$ for XF.
     
  11. Ian

    Ian Coin Collector

    Thanks for that. I had understood that this one of mine was from the mid - late 1700's. I think I paid about £5 for it a few years back from a postal auction as a `mystery' coin. Just as well I didn't buy it with a view to `profit' ;). It has provided me with lots of fun just gaining an understanding of what it is. I've always hoped to decypher the script on both sides of the token though, just in case there is a further clue to its history/ origins. within.


    Ian
     
  12. spiraltreet

    spiraltreet New Member

    Ian, I'll try to decipher it for you.. But, I need to find someone who knows Arabic. Its not that difficult here.:thumb:
     
  13. spock1k

    spock1k King of Hearts


    I got a silver one from my mom and she got it some 50 yrs ago. are you sure that this si something thats minted recently. i have that coin with me for the last 20 yrs. Whatever you can tell me specifialy about this coin will be greatly appreciated. i will try to find ramatanka. thanks.
     
  14. spock1k

    spock1k King of Hearts

  15. spiraltreet

    spiraltreet New Member

    The silver tokens found here are usually from the 18th and 19th C. I have not come across much of contemporary silver tokens (ofcourse,except some machine struck tokens). And about Ramatanka, these have been minting from the 19th century onwards. But the problem is that they have not yet stopped its production. I think you got my point.
     
  16. spiraltreet

    spiraltreet New Member

  17. Ian

    Ian Coin Collector

    Thanks. :hug:
     
  18. willieboyd2

    willieboyd2 First Class Poster

    Here is one which I have had since the 1960's when I bought it from a California coin dealer's foreign coin box:

    [​IMG]
    Thanks to this thread it has been identified.
    :)
     
  19. spiraltreet

    spiraltreet New Member

    Here's a couple of old tokens. The first is a silver Ramatanka. The older copper Ramatanka tokens are also having this same image. But, after the 19th C, they adopted a new image which you can see on most of copper and silver tokens. The second is a 19th C Muslim temple token. This silver token is the most common of all the Muslim tokens. Personally, I think the older tokens are having more finish and more beauty than their newer versions. There is also a big difference between them. At first, these tokens were produced purely for religious purposes. But, today, I think most of these tokens are sold to innocent collectors.
     

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  20. happycobra

    happycobra Senior Member

    Temple tokens are pretty interesting and sadly I know little about them. Thanks for the info. I’ll keep an eye out for the modern tokens.

    Here’s my token form the Emperor Akbar (1556-1605), used in Hindu temple. At least that’s what I was told.
     

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  21. giladzuc

    giladzuc Senior Member

    It Looks Like An Islamic Squared Coin

    Partial translation: on ind1.jpg "MUHAMMAD" is readable.
    on ind2.jpg "THERE IS NO GOD BUT ALLAH AND MUHAMMAD IS THE MESSANGER OF ALLAH" in a diamond shape. Around it there are 4 names: Abu Bakr (reigned 632-634 , 1st caliph) Umar (634-644 , 2nd) Uthmaan (644-655 , 3rd) 'Ali (656-661 , 4th) , all 4 were assassinated.
     
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