Travancorean coins.

Here's a section that I know will be right up Biju's street.It is about the coins of the Indian Princely State of Travancore,which is now located in Kerala in southern India.

I have the following coins in the Indian Princely States section of my collection under 'British Asia & Far East'.;

Maharajah Rama Varma IV (reigned 1860-80).

N.D. (1864) 1 Velli Fanam.

Maharajah Rama Varma VI (reigned 1885-1924).

N.D. 4 Cash. Inscribed 'FOUR CASH'.

N.D. 1 Chuckram. Inscribed 'ONE CHUCKRAM'.

1889 1/2 Rupee. (Interesting to note that Maharajah Rama Varma VI's silver is inscribed 'RAMA VURMA'.)

Maharajah Bala Rama Varma II (reigned 1924-49).

N.D. 1 Cash.

N.D. 8 Cash.

ME 1114 (1938) 1 Chuckram.

ME 1118 (1942) 1 Fanam.


Aidan.

 

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As far as I'm concerned, there are two interesting coins.. The 1864 fanam coin has two varieties. One of them is pretty rare. If you can post a picture, I can identify it. Then the 1889 coin.. Thats one of the sought after coins by me and I feel jealousy ... :desk: The cash coins of Rama Varma are relatively difficult to get especially the 'Cash One' coin. In his coins, the description 'cash/chuckram/fanam' comes first and the denomination later. About the 1114 chuckram, does it have the date on the coin? If it has, its comparatively rare and the coin is not included in the Krause catalogue.

 

Biju,I can't post photos,as I haven't yet bought a digital camera or a scanner.The 1 Velli Fanam has something enclosed within a wreath that looks like an altar or something else on the reverse.The obverse has the letters 'R.V.' within a floral border.

As to the ME 1114 1 Chuckram,it does have the date at the top of the reverse just above the shell symbol.The coin is actually listed in the 20th Century Krause catalogue in the Indian Princely States chapter.It isn't priced highly at all,but it is a coin that very seldom turns up.

What is the script on the Travancorean coins? It looks to me like Tamil,which is also on the coins,banknotes,& postal orders of both Ceylon & Sri Lanka.

Aidan.

 

Aidan, the common variety has no date. We, here in the erstwhile Travancore considers it a different type and its price is Rs.700 compared to the common coin which costs around Rs.100. The Krause does not mention this difference, though the year is written there. I think the 1864 coin is the one which is posted below. Note the two dots on the coin. In the rare variety, there wont be any dots.

 

Biju,my silver Fanam does have the 2 dots.Krause lists both types of the 1 Chuckram under the same 'KM' number,as they are of both the same design,apart from the missing date.

Aidan.

 

Sorry, I didn't notice this one. Infact, the language on the coins is Malayalam which evolved from Tamil. Tamil is an old Dravidian language, the history of which extends many centuries. Malayalam is relatively new (about 200 years). And, by the by, my mother tongue is Malayalam The inscriptions on the earlier coins of Travancore is more Tamil than Malayalam and the evolution of Malayalam from Tamil can be seen on these coins.

 

Biju,have you ever seen the famous Tulabharam issue coins of 1/4,1/2,& 1 Pagoda,& a 2 Pagodas?

There's a note in Krause that says this;

These presentation coins were struck prior to the weighing in ceremony of the Maharajah.The balance of his weight in these gold coins were distributed amongst the learned Brahmins and are referred to as 'Tulabhara Kasu'.The legend reads 'Sri Patmanabha',the national deity.

Krause actually describes the inscriptions on these coins as being in Tamil.These are listed at the end of the Travancore chapter,just before the coins of Tripura.

Aidan.

 

Aidan, even now, this ritual is being practiced by some of the major temples of Kerala. But, the coin is substituted by anything like sugar, banana, copper-nickel coins or any other such things. The most common thing they use now is the bananas. And, I've seen this Tulabhara Kasu. The letter seemed both Tamil and Malayalam to me. I got a picture with me now..

 

Do you know what denomination that Tulabhara Kasu is? I can guess that you have been looking for these coins.I wonder how scarce they could be.

It is good to hear that the descendants of the Maharajahs of Travancore are still carrying out this ceremony.
I can guess that there will be a lot of people making monkeys out of themselves as a result.

Aidan.

 

Thats an interesting question, Aidan. For me, these Tulabhara coins were not at all coins, as they were only special gold coins minted for the ceremony only. They were treated very highly because of the gold in them. I dont know how these were treated by the Krause as coins. For me, its only a token.

 

Biju,these are listed in Krause in an NCLT section in the Travancore chapter,as the Tulabharam issues are the same size & fineness as the Travancorean 1/4,1/2,& 1 Pagoda,& the 2 Pagodas.If I was offered one of these,I'd gladly put them in my collection.They are on a par with the Kelantanese gold Dinar coins & its fractionals.

You can buy the latest Krause catalogues here; www.amazon.com .The postage from Germany is very cheap.

Aidan.

 

Aidan, whatever it may be, I too would have loved to have this coin in my collection... But a single coin would cost around 750$ and now I'm mostly concentrating on getting atleast one good quality coin from each and every princely state. I found that some of the princely state coins offered in the eBay do not belong to the state which it originally comes from. (I mean the description is not correct). And I'm finding it pretty difficult to find the coins, especially the good quality coins. But it gives me immense pleasure when I find something new from unexpected sources. By the by, sometimes I get good princely state coins for less than 8$. The 5 Kori cost me only 9$ and the Mewar 1 Rupee cost me even lesser. I know only two guys who specialise in Princely State coins all over Trivandrum. I think its the right time for me to start collecting these wonderful coins.

 

Biju,have you thought about building your own website on Indian Princely States coins? It would be a very good teaching resource.

Aidan.

 

Aidan, thats a good idea.. But, will it cost too much to build a website.?

 

You can register a domain name with a registrar.I am sure that there is a registrar in India who can do this.

I can get you free hosting at www.starzonewebhost.com/support ,which you would have to register & then request a hosting account.

Aidan.

 

thank you Aidan, I'd love to build a website and I'm applying immediately..

 

Biju,you can join up & submit articles through here; http://numismatics.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page .

Aidan.

 

Aidan, is that a forum?

 

Biju,it isn't a forum as such.It is an online encyclopaedia,which anyone signed up can edit,but it does have a discussion component.

Aidan.

 

Hi, since you collect princely state coins, I had a question... I am a rather new collector and personally am very interested in old Princely state coins... I have often seen thousands of coins being sold on the street markets in Mumbai, they include many princely state coins, and was too scared to buy anything in case I was getting ripped off... how common are forgeries?