Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Ancientnoob, post: 2169693, member: 44140&quot;]I scratched another Ancient Kingdom off the list!</p><p><br /></p><p>I had originally spotted this on the Agora auction about a month ago and didn&#039;t give it much thought and absent mindedly passed over it.<img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie67" alt=":nailbiting:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /> The my coin comrade [USER=15445]@Collect89[/USER] says &quot;Hey check this out&quot;. He knows when we get together its always &quot;some coin you have never seen before, from a place you never heard of a history totally alien. He said, he knew it was from Burma and chunky&quot; <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie77" alt=":pompous:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /> It again peaked my interest.</p><p><br /></p><p>To make a long story short the coin went unsold in that Agora auction and I was able to call Agora up and acquire the coin as it was still available. I very happily paid the buyer&#039;s fee and the price of an opening bid. Wew. I&#039;m getting sloppy.<img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie33" alt=":cigar:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>The coin was originally attributed to the Kingdom of Hamsvati, 5th century AD and I can virtually no information on this culture and have not come across the name before.</p><p><br /></p><p>According to Robert S. Wicks (1992) The &quot;Conch&quot; coins originate in high art and high purity silver coins with a tight minting weight of 9.4-10.1 grams with the majority (29) of the cataloged coins (36) from a hoard in Pegu. (Bago, Myanmar). All coins appeared slightly scyphate. Metallurgical analysis of the hoard yield near pure silver, 99.7% with only 0.27% copper.</p><p><br /></p><p>The coin&#039;s obverse has an excellent representation of the Conch, or Shankha the shell of a gastropod native to the Indian ocean and best described as a large predatory Sea Snail.The shell has been an important part of Buddhist and Hindu culture for as long as they have existed. It is often used as trumpet in both in ritual and in war. The trumpet is often played at festivals dedicated to Lakshmi the consort of Vishnu.</p><p>The Conch&#039;s sound was thought to ward off evil spirits and blowing it daily was considered healthy for the respiratory system. In Hinduism the Conch is a symbol of Vishnu and of wealth, success and good fortune.</p><p><br /></p><p>The distribution of the these early coins types is quite extensive and found along the coastlines of Bengal, Lower Burma, Thailand and a single specimen was reported found in a precious metal hoard in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam) The majority of examples have been recovered in small hoards in Pegu, and are almost never found inland. The &quot;Conch&quot; coin became the prototype model for all coinage of the region in the first millennium AD. All of this suggests the Mon where an advanced seafaring trade culture existing south of the Pyu Realm in Burma and later expanding and founding city states throughout southeast Asia.</p><p><br /></p><p>It is recorded that when the Pyu were overrun by the Burmese and the Kingdom of Pagan (didn&#039;t use coins) employed Pyu and Mon craftsman on civil service projects and architectural feats. The Mon endure to this day. (Google them)</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Asia,</p><p>Burma, Pegu</p><p>Mon Culture</p><p>5th century AD</p><p>AR Full Unit 27 mm x 9.58 grams</p><p>Obverse: Conch - Beaded Border</p><p>Reverse: SriVatsa Temple - two Pellets below</p><p>Ref: Wicks Class A</p><p>Note: Rare, early specimen. Possibly probed for purity in antiquity.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]418803[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in