I have always been fascinated with the coins of Taprobane (the name of Sri Lanka as it was known to the ancient Greeks.) Digging around in the treasure box I found a handful of tiny "Roman" bronze coins. Although these are not your run of the mill AE4, these are imitations of 5th century LRBs circulating in Taprobane in the 8th century. These date two a once thought coinless period in the history of Sri Lanka. Coinage would disappear again until the invasions of Raja Raja Chola and the victory of Vijyabahu (r.1055-1110 AD.) These invasions brought us the famous Octopus King series of coins which would be the style of coin until the arrival of the Portuguese in the late 15th century. In the late 4th century AD , Roman traders were granted a special district on Taprobane where they imported LRBs by the ton. Many of these coins of Arcadius and later rulers were circulated for hundreds of years. Once they could no longer be circulated, they were copied by the local inhabitants. The coins were in such terrible shape that the copies bear the brunt of the wear and damage of circulation. Many of the devices and legends were unrecognizable, as such the copies are interpretations of what was believed to be on the coins. Many of these coins are 5-6 mm and 0.2-0.4 of a gram. I was lucky enough to acquire a handful of these coins from a find at the bottom of gem mine. I hope you find these coins are fascinating as I do. See if you can recognize the types with your 21st century eyes. I will post more once they are all photographed, but here is a taste.
I love these types! I got mine from Alexander Fishmen through a private dealing, he sent me a picture of around 50 of these to choose from, I wish I had gotten more as I was on a strict budget back then. I think yours show wreath on the reverse. Fallen horseman type 0.89 grams Gloria Exercitus type It weighs 1.55 g. Cross type The reverse was probably copied from a cross, however we see a Swastika, an auspicious symbol for the Hindu/Buddhist religions. Here we see the locals taking in the Roman culture, however they knew to separate the religion! It weighs 0.82 g. Couple of official issues from the same hoard: Official Constans Heraclea mint Found among the Sri Lankan hoards (the journey it took from Heraclea to Sri Lanka!!) 1.73 g Unidentifiable dumpy coin Probably an official issue given its weight of 2.3g. Looks like it had circulated extensively for at least a couple of centuries!
