ORIENTAL NUMISMATIC SOCIETY

ONS News The study day on Arab-Byzantine coins took place as planned on 4th April at the Department of Coins and Medals, British Museum. Papers due to be given were as follows: Susan Tyler-Smith ‘The Impact of Conquest’ Marcus Phillips ‘Currency in Syria after 640 AD’ Andrew Oddy ‘Coins of Jerash’ Tony Goodwin ‘Imitations of Constans II’ Helen Brown ‘Arab Copies of Folles of Constantine IV’

The Regional Secretary for Continental Europe asks all members who have hitherto paid their yearly subscription by bank or postal cheque to pay the 1992 subscription either by Eurocheque for 35 Dutch guilders (all other cheques being charged 15 guilders transfer costs and 5 guilders bank commission!) or with banknotes in a suitably sealed letter.

Members News

Professor Thomas Noonan…) is now completing a catalogue of all coin hoards deposited in Western Eurasia between ca. 700 and ca. 1100 AD which contain 5 or more dirhams. He would be most appreciative to receive information from ONS members about newly discovered hoards, unpublished hoards, and hoards published in more specialised, limited circulation joumals or books. The areas included are: Central Asia, the Near East, North Africa, Italy, the Iberian peninsula, Eastern - Central - Western Europe.

2…. asks if any members can supply coins of the Westem Ksatrapas, Traikutaka and Bodhi dynasties (especially those not identified) for sale for study purposes….( 15 working on the cash coinage of Xinjiang and would be grateful for any input from members, especially on the Arabic inscriptions.

Your editor is now collecting bronze commemorative, portrait and exhibition medals, 19th and 20th century, of the world in nice condition and would be interested to hear from any members who may have such material for disposal.

Does any member know of any collection of, or work done on, the shapes of the pre-European weights or the Achaemenid/Parthian weights, in any country 7…, would be grateful for any references to these matters. He has found no information in the European language sources available to him. The Umayyad Coinage of the Maghrib On 13 February 1992 Dr Michael Bates gave a lecture on the above subject at the British Museum Education Office. Dr Bates described the pre-reform Umayyad coinage that Walker, in his catalogue of Arab-Byzantine coins, had assigned to North Africa or Spain. He considered, in particular, the gold solidus and questioned whether the chronological sequences proposed by Walker fitted in with

the different, although much abbreviated, Latin legends. By comparing the legends with the Islamic statements they were likely to represent, he suggested that there might have been two mints in operation, one at Carthage supplying solidii of Byzantine style with two figures, and the other, perhaps al Kairouan, producing coins bearing a legend only, as was the custom with the contemporary reformed dinars in the East. This latter mint may have moved to Spain where coins dated Indiction X to XII were produced.

The Numismatic Society of Hyderabad Information has been received from the above society. Its stated aims and objectives are: To co-operate with coin collectors, numismatic societies and museums in India by offering them information about and help with coins. To organise exhibitions of coins, medals, seals and paper currency. To encourage the collection and preservation of coins, medals, seals and paper currency. To arrange exploration and to collaborate in excavation for similar purposes. To provide members with sufficient literature on the art of coin collection and provide catalogues and other reference books. To encourage interaction among coin collectors. The society has several books to its credit and issues newsletters during the year. Membership fees are as follows:

India Overseas members Admission fee Rs US$ UK£ Student Membership Rs USS UK£ Annual Membership Rs US$ UK£ Institutional Membership Rs US$ UK £ Life Membership Rs US$ UK £ Donor Membership Rs US$ UK £ Patron Membership Rs US$ UK £ 150

Payment by crossed D.D./ Cheque / 1.2.0. / Money Order in favour of “The Numismatic Society of Hyderabad’. Enquiries should be addressed to the Honorary Secretary, The Numismatic Society of Hyderabad,

New and Recent Publications

INDIAN NUMISMATICS, HISTORY, ART AND CULTURE: Essays in Honour of Dr. P.L. Gupta. Edited by D W Macdowall, Savita Sharma and Sanjay Garg. Dehli, 1992, 2 vols., 1xxvii, 350p., figures, plates, $175 (set) {inclusive of free airmail postage].

Contents: Preface. Research papers: Numismatics: 1. Punch-marked coinage of Kosala - towards a classification/ T R Hardaker, Oxford, Britain. 2. Silver punch-marked coins from Magadha - an unknown type/ Savita Sharma, Banaras Hindu University, India. 3. Coins in the reconstruction of the political history of ancient Bihar/ B P Sinha, Patna, India. 4. Local Coinage of Vaisali/ Amal Kumar Jha, Indian Institute of Research in Numismatic Studies, India. 5. Coins from Eran excavations: a chronological analysis/ K D Bajpai, Sagar, India. 6. Coins from Mir Zakah in private collections/ Osmund Bopearachchi, Paris, France. 7. Three denarii of Tiberius from Arikamedu/ Peter Berghaus, Dinkagestrasse, Germany. 8. Greek monograms/ A H Dani, Qaid-i-Azam University, Pakistan. 9. A unique Greek coin from Afghanistan/ Raymond J Hebert, Smithsonian Institute, USA. 10. The geographical distribution of monograms on the coinage of Menander and Antimachus Nikephorus/ D W MacDowall, Admont, Britain. 11. Numismatic evidence for the date of the ‘Periplus/ Joe Cribb, British Museum, Britain. 12. The Kushana conflict - third century conflict/ Craig Alden Burns, California, USA. 13. Kushana coins in Bengal - an appraisal/ B N Mukherjee, Calcutta, India.

Silver coin of Mahakshatrapa Prithivisena: a rejoinder/ Dilip Rajgor, Bombay, India. 15. New discoveries in the Satavahana coinage/ Shobhana Gokhale, Deccan College Post Graduate and Research Institute, India. 16. Kollippurai: an inscribed Tamil coin of first century AD/ R Nagaswamy, Government of Tamil Nadhu, India. 17. Forgery of coins in the Yadava period/ Chandra Shekhar Gupta. 18 Vijayanagara coinage as seen by foreign travellers/ A V Narasimha Murthy, Mysore University, India. 19. Ninth century Byzantine coins in the 10th century Hungarian finds/ Istvan Gedai, Magyar Nemzei Museum, Hungary. 20. More Venetian ducats in India/ N J Mayhew, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, Britain. 21 The so-called *Arakan’ mint rupees of the Bengal Sultans/ M Robinson, Cheshire; and S Goron, Surrey, Britain. 22. Four Indian coin dies in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford/ Helen Mitchell Brown, Ashmolean Museum, Britain. 23. The closure of the Dehli mint. AD 1818/ Sanjay Garg, National Archives of India, India. 24. The coinage of the Sitamau state. K W Wiggins, E. Sussex, Britain. 25. Shroff marks on Arakanese tankahs/ M Robinson, Cheshire, Britain. 26. Ancient coinage from Thailand and Burma - its geographical distribution and typological development/ Robert S Wicks, Miami University, USA.

Indian history, art and culture; 27. A new fragment of of ‘Bodharajakumarasutra’ from Eastern Turkestan/ G M Bongard Levin, Moscow, USSR. 28. Queen Uddaka’s illuminated manuscript/ Pratapaditya Pal, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, USA. 29.

Anna’s northern expedition/ Devendra Handa, Punjab University, India. 30. Brahmi and its offshoots in Asia. T P Verma, Banaras Hindu University, India. 31. Paramam Padah/ T K Biswas, Banaras Hindu University, India. 32. Krishnalila scenes at the Simhanatha Temple, Orissa/ M N P Tiwari, Banaras Hindu University, India. 33. Eros from Junnar/ M K Dhavalikar, Deccan College Post Graduate

and Research Institute, India. 34. A bronze plaque of Atlas of the Gandhara School from Taxila/ Karl Khandalavala, Pune, India. 35. ‘Saura-Pitha’ or the solar altar/ 8 V Shetti, Prince of Wales Museum of Western India, India. 36. Some aspects of trade and commerce in Konkana and Southern Maharashtra under the Silaharas/ Ajay Mitra Shastri, Nagpur, India. 37. Benaras and the company school of painting/ T N Mishra, Banaras Hindu University, India.

N I Bulletin for January 1992 contains an article by Kenneth Mackenzie entitled ‘Medins struck at the Cairo Mint, 17861789’.

The UK publication Coin News for February 1992 includes an article by Colin Narbeth entitled ‘Who’s Who? An identification of Chinese Cash of the Southern Ming’.

Catalogue of the Coins of the Kings of Oudh by Rai Bahadur Prajay Dayal, 1992 reprint, first published in 1939. 96 pages with plates. Ind. Rs. 150.

Numismatic Studies by Devendra Handa, vol 2 1992. Ind. Rs 260. Vol. 1 is also available for the same price. Items 3

and 4 are published by Amrapali Publications, Bombay.

Work in Progress

A Standard Catalogue of Ancient Indian Coins is in preparation.

Dilip Rajgor is working on a book on the coins of Cutch.

Lists Received

Stephen Album’s (PO Box 7386, Santa Rosa, California, 95407, USA) lists 82, 83 and 84. List 82 contains a number of very

rare and unpublished coins, including the following:

Abbasid fals (2.45g) of Jahdum b. Hubaba, governor in Palestine circa 800 AD/ Al Ramla mint, no date, citing Mansur b. al Mahdi. This rare coin is apparently the only evidence for the name Jahdum b. Hubaba.

ii. Rasulid dirhem (1.77g) of al-Mansur Ayyab, pretender in 1321 AD. Struck at al Mahjam in AH 722. Al-Mansur was one of several claimants to the throne upon the death of al-Mu’ayyad in 722/1321. Another, al-Zahir abd Allah, also struck coins.

iii. India, A rupee of Jambusar, year 22. The ruler’s name is mostly off the coin, but is probably Shah Alam II. Jambusar is some 35 miles from Baroda and 27 from Broach. In earlier days it was a centre of some commercial importance. The town was occupied by the British in 1775 and held by them until 1783, when it was restored to the Marathas. Under the treaty of Poona (1817) it was finally surrendered to the British. It became the chief town and municipality of the Jambusar subdivision of Broach District, Bombay Presidency. Album attributes this coin to Baroda but year 22 of Shah Alam II is 1194 AH = 1780 AD. At this time the town was under British control.

iv. India. East India Company, Bombay Presidency. A rupee of year 4, of the reign of William and Mary. This year is unpublished for this rare series.

Omar Hamidi, Persic Gallery (PO Box 10317, Torrance, CA 90505 USA) list no 30 of Islamic, Indian, Baktrian and Central Asian Coinages. A good selection of material.
Lloyd Bennett (PO Box 2, Monmouth, Gwent, NP5 3YE, UK). A list of Chinese coins.

Marcus and Susan Phillips (PO Box 348, Biggleswade, Beds SG18 8EQ, UK) A list of books including a number on oriental subjects.

Review Standard Catalogue of Sultanate Coins of India by Dilip Rajgor. 230 pages, soft covers. Indian Rs 495, published by Amrapali Publications, Post Box 17837, Bombay 400 080 India. Distributed by Rajesh Jain & Co., 201 Bhupindra Office Complex, 59 Rani Jhansie Road, New Dehli - 110 055 India.

This is the first ttme a comprehensive priced catalogue of Indian Sultanate coins has been published. Previous catalogues of sultanate coins have either been detailed and specialised studies of individual sultanates such as H Nelson Wright’s Coinage and Metrology of the Dehli Sultans or C R Singhal’s Catalogue of the coins of the Sultans of Gujerat in the Prince of Wales Museum, Bombay; or they have been catalogues and listings of a range of sultanates, such as H Nelson Wright’s Catalogue of the Muhammadan series of Coins in the Indian Museum, Calcutta, or Donald Hull’s Collectors Guide to the Mohammedan Coins of India. The Indian Museum catalogue, though useful, is well out of date and the same may be said of Hull’s compendium. Michael Mitchiner in his Oriental Coins and their Values lists a range of sultanate coins with values, but the range is so incomplete as to be of little use. The present catalogue therefore seeks to fill a definite gap.

One can rehearse the pros and cons of priced catalogues. Prices can be ephemeral, they can be manipulated and the author needs

to determine what market the prices are meant to reflect. On the other hand a priced catalogue can bring stability to a market and a firm basis on which that market can develop. Such has been the growth in interest by Indian collectors in their own coinage in recent years that there is a risk of the market becoming overheated and collectors not knowing whether the money has been well-spent or not. This catalogue should help in that respect. It may also encourage the publication of more new types and discourage the melting down of coins that have tended to be the field of a small number of specialist collectors.

In his foreword, Prashant Kulkarni states that the catalogue contains a compilation of all known coins of the sultans. This is not true; there were a number of coins in the reviewer’s former collection that do not feature in the catalogue and there must be others. Nevertheless the listing is better than any previous one and includes a good many recent discoveries. The bulk of the catalogue comprises the listings. The sultanates are covered in alphabetical order and comprise: Ahmadnagar (Nizam Shahs), Bengal, Berar (‘Imad Shahs), Bidar (Barid Shahs), Bijapur (Adil Shahs), Dehli, Golkonda (Qutb Shahs), Gulbarga (Bahmanids), Jaunpur, Kalpi, Kashmir, Khandesh, Madura, Malwa and Sind. Also included are the coins with Arabic legends of the Rajas of Arakan and coms of the Ghaznavids. Each section starts with a short introduction about the sultanate in question.

This is followed by a list of rulers with both AH and AD dates, a metrological table, and list of mint towns where appropriate. Some individual rulers are given a short historical introduction, but many are not. The coins are listed after the fashion of the Krause Mishler Standard Catalog of World Coins, ie., by metal - copper, billon, silver, gold and within each metal by denomination from the smallest to the largest. This is not an arrangement favoured by the reviewer. Whilst it may be of use to the numismatically illiterate who can distinguish a small coin from a large one, it gives no indication of the structure and development of

the coinage. The coins should be arranged, where possible, by series, from gold to copper. Nowhere in the catalogue is there any discussion of the coinage or of the metrology. The metrological tables are in some cases flawed as they do not recognise different weight standards that evolve during the course of a coinage. This leads in places to nonsense listings. Most of the entries in the catalogue are illustrated. The quality of the illustrations varies from clear to poor. Most illustrations are at least adequate but the Kashmir section in particular suffers from very poor reproduction. A better quality paper would have helped. Unillustrated entries are of little use, for nowhere are the legends given. On the other hand, source references are often provided, which is fine if the reader has access to the source. Many of the coins are given a short type description, e.g. ‘Fi Shahur type’, ‘Sikandar al-zaman type’, ‘crude type’, ‘half toughra’ type, but no attempt is made to demonstrate the reference of the description to the coin illustration, e.g., by means of a little arrow.

The coin types are priced in Indian rupees in three grades, Fine, Very Fine and Extremely Fine, except for entries where fewer than 25 specimens are known. In the latter case rarity ratings only are given, from R to RRRR, though the RRRR rating is given to

‘coins of the highest importance due to historical information or aesthetic merit and only a few are known’. As RRR is used for types where 3 or fewer specimens are known, a different symbol altogether should have been used for coins of special historical or aesthetic merit. On the whole, the prices quoted seem reasonable for the Indian market. Some coins are definitely under-priced and there are a few downright errors, e.g. the unique coin of Mahmud Shah III Lodi (type 1551) is given three gradings with a highest value of Rs 30! The use of the R ratings also shows inconsistencies. In some series, particularly Malwa, billon types are included in the copper listings as well as the billon listings. This is probably because the types can appear very coppery and in some cases may be copper. Such types should be listed under billon only and a comment added that copper specimens also occur and are worth X% of the value of billon specimens. The coppery specimens may be contemporary forgeries, or simply specimens with extremely low silver content. There are many inconsistencies in the catalogue and a number of errors. It gives the impression of having been produced in rather a hurry without adequate editing and checking. Indeed, the reviewer understands that the whole work was completed in only three months with the author doing practically everything himself. Less haste would have been preferable. One particularly irritating inconsistency is in the terms used for the copper coinages. These vary between ‘falus’, ‘unit’, ‘tanka’, ‘gani’ ‘jital’, in apparently arbitrary fashion! In successive rulers of the the Dehli Sultanate between Firuz Shah Zafar and Sikandar I copper coins are called falus,….ratti standard, jital, falus! In many cases we probably do not know what the contemporary names for copper coins were. They are surely not called tankas, apart from the forced currency token of Muhammad bin Tughlug. It would probably be best to use the term

‘falus’ throughout. Contemporary sources indicate that this name was used at least for some of the copper coins.

Before considering the listings in more detail, I will mention the rest of the catalogue’s contents. At the front, an identification guide comprising 40 coin types is set out over two pages. Certain textual features, e.g., the position of the king’s name, the mint, the date are pointed out, though not always accurately. The layout of the guide and the information seem somewhat arbitrary. This is followed by ‘Geneo-chronological’ tables illustrated by coins and providing summary data only. A key to script dates follows. This is useful in indicating how dates can be found written out on certain of the series, though why a column of Kufic forms is included is not at all clear, unless it be to identify the dates on Ghaznavid coins.

Mr Kulkarni’s somewhat effusively written foreword is followed by a general historical introduction. This repeats the former belief that Iltutmish was responsible for introducing the silver tanka coinage into India when it is now known that tankas were struck in Bengal before Iltutmish’s reign. The latter, however, certainly spread their use to other parts of India. At the end of the catalogue is

a glossary of Arabic terms found on the coins with English translations but no transliterations, and lastly a Hejira-Christian era date chart from AH1 - 1310 (AD 622 to 1900). The general presentation of the book is pleasing. There is an attractive cover design by Lance Dane. The binding, however, is frail and the catalogue is likely to become shabby with use. For future editions a hard cover should be used.

Some detailed comments now follow. Bengal This is by far the best listing of coin types to appear so far. Various recent important discoveries are included, for example the coins of Ali Mardan (types 112-16), the tanka of Mughis-ud-din Tughril (type 141), Nasir-ud-din Mahmud, Bughra Khan (type 143), Qutb-ud-din ‘Azam (type 320), Nur-ud-din Sikander II (type 405, not illustrated), Shahzada Barbak (types 440-1) Qutb-uddin Mahmud (types 448-51. This ruler is unaccountably called ‘Nasir-ud-din Muhammad II’ in the listing!) The mint list, though lengthy, is not complete; it excludes Laknur (Lakur), Mazdaran, Ruknabad and also has some errors in the Arabic. The listing starts with the coins issued by Ikhtiyar-ud-din Muhammad Bakhtiyar in the name of Muhammad bin Sam, including a 1/12 silver tanka (a unique 1/12 tanka is also listed for Ali Mardan). Later issues struck in Bengal in the name of subsequent Sultans of Dehli are confined

to the Dehli section of the catalogue. It would have been useful to list them in the Bengal section with a cross reference in the Dehli section. Coin type 135 is attributed to Nasir-ud-din Mahmud I, the son of Iltutmish, (AH 624-6), presumably because it quotes the Caliph al-Mustansir (AH 623-40). This attribution cannot be correct. The style of the coin is completely wrong for the 620’s AH. One only has to compare the obverse with that of the Tughril coin (type 137) on the opposite page, or the Lakhnauti coin of the Dehli Sultan ‘Ala-ud-din Mas’ud (AH 639-44, type 900) to realise that type 135 is a coin of the 640’s AH and should be attributed to the Dehli Sultan Nasir-ud-din Mahmud I (644-64), even if Al-Mustansir had died a few years before Mahmud’s accession. A number of known coin types, including some of the reviewer’s former collection, are not included. More fractions are known and the listing for Ghaiyas-ud-din Mahmud (AH 939-45), erroneously called Muhammad in the catalogue) contains only one non-Badr Shahi type, when I alone had six different types! Some inconsistencies in rarity and value ratings were noted, but on the whole this is a very useful listing.

Dehli The Dehli listing is extensive, as indeed it should be bearing in mind the work of previous authors such as H Nelson Wright and Valentine. Metrologically, the series is complex, with numerous changes as the coinage progresses. The metrological tables provided do not adequately cover these changes. Terminology for the copper coins is confused and the billon coinage also needs some more thought. Some billon coins are included in the copper listings. It is not always easy to determine whether a coin type is meant to be copper or billon, especially if the surface of the coin has lost its silver. Important differences in coin types are not always mentioned. The two silver tankas of ‘Ala-ud-din Mas’ud Shah illustrated have a more significant difference than the position of the ruler’s name. Type 799 quotes the Caliph al-Musta’sim, while type 900 Caliph al-Mustansir. Type 997 is out of place. It is a coin struck by the Malla dynasty of Nepal in the early 17th century AD, quoting ‘Ala-ud-din Muhammad’s name as a historical relic. Similar coins were struck by the Mallas based on Badr Shahi types of Ghiyas-ud-din Mahmud of Bengal. Both types could have been listed in a separate section of later derivative types. Some coins are greatly under-priced, e.g. types 1230 (Mahmud bin Muhammad bin Tughluq billon at Rs 50 in EF), 1254 (Kangra type of Firoz III at Rs 30 when only one specimen is noted), the coins of Sikandar I, Nusrat and ‘Alam Shah.

The Dehli listing includes the issues of the Suris. Whilst it is not easy to determine the relative scarcity of the many different copper types, some mints are definitely less common than others and this can be reflected in the prices to a greater degree than is evident. Prices for the rupee fractions seem low, and that for the 30 gr copper coin of Islam Shah (type 1767) definitely so. The illustrations for types 1570-72 have been transposed.

Gujerat Both the copper and silver coins of Gujerat were struck in a wide variety of weights. Several weight standards for the silver tanka and its fractions were employed, sometimes at the same time. The copper coinage is even more complicated; whether or not it was struck to more than one standard is not clear - transactions may simply have been undertaken by the actual weight of the coin(s). The catalogue divides the bulk of the copper and silver coins into two standards, called Dehli standard and Gujerat standard respectively. A single metrological table is placed at the start of the section and no explanation is given about the way the standards change during the development of the coinage. Thus the distinct 9 gram and 7 gram silver tanka standards are lumped into a single Gujerat standard of 7.5 to 9 grams. This leads to the silly situation where the where the 14 gram silver coins of Ahmed III are correctly

called double tankas in the metrological table but 16 tankas in the listing (type 2404). Moreover, the ع4‎ gram silver coins struck at Mustafabad (Junagarh) during the reign of Mahmud I are included within the Gujerat standard despite the fact that the Gujerat column in

the metrological table has no place for a ع4‎ gram coin! It would have been much better to define the various silver tanka standards used by succeeding rulers and to list the coins under 11 gr, 9 gr, 7 gr headings.

I do not find it helpful to divide the copper coinage (all for some reason called tankas) into Dehli and Gujerat standards. There were no 10 - 11 gram copper coins at Delhi for most of this period. Indeed a comparison with the Bahmanid metrological table on page 165 reveals a striking congruence between the weights. Certainly the manner in which everything has been divided into Dehli and Gujerat standards makes for a very complex listing, especially as many of the coins are not illustrated. It is good to see the coins of the ephemeral rulers Sikandar and Mahmud II included. Type 2180 is a coin of Mahmud II of Dehli, not Mahmud 1 of Gujerat. The wrong illustration has been used for type 2261. Type 2430 should be referred to Muzaffar I not Muzaffar III.

Jaunpur Once again the copper coins are confusingly called tankas and fractions of tankas. Some are in fact coppery forms of billon coins (types 2712, 2713, 2733). The two unique silver tankas of Ibrahim Shah are both included, one is given 5 x R rating, the other only 2 x R! Similarly, silver tankas of Mahmud Shah and Hussain Shah are noted with 2 x R and 1 x R ratings respectively. Your reviewer has never seen these coins or any other reference to them. Four types of coins are listed for Barbak Shah Lodi. These are all very scarce and under-priced.

Malwa The Malwa listings suffer from the same sort of metrological shortcomings as Gujerat. Copper coins are called tankas

and their fractions; billon coin types are included in the copper listings and the 7 gram reduced weight silver tankas introduced during

the reign of Mahmud II are called 3/4 tankas! Again it would be better for the metrology of each ruler’s coin issues to be noted and treated separately. No mention is made of the very interesting mint marks found on the coins of this sultanate. The issues of Ghiyas Shah as heir apparent (Wali Ahad, types 3089, 3095, 3102 and 3120) are included in the main Ghiyas Shah listing instead of preceding it. The enigmatic silver coins of Muhammad bin Muzaffar (962-4 AH) are listed separately from the copper coins of Abu’l Muzaffar Muhammad (962-3 AH) which are listed under Baz Bahadur. It is conceivable they were both struck by the same ruler.

Silver tankas 3176 and 3177 of Mahmud II should have been differentiated by the ruler’s laqabs Abu’l Muzaffar and Abu’l Fath respectively. The unique (?) g tanka of Muhammad II is only given a one R rating. It would have been useful to include in the Malwa listings the coins struck by Ibrahim Lodi and the Gujerat rulers in Malwa and the square coins of Sangram Shah; otherwise most types of this under-collected sultanate are included.

Gulbarga (Bahmanids) This is a comprehensive listing. The copper coins, for some reason, are called ganis and their fractions. A simple metrological table is provided for the copper coins though the range of weights increased considerably from the reign of Ahmed I. The two published types of the Bahmani forerunner, Nasir-ud-din Ismail are included, though they are both described as copper. Type 2501, at least, is billon. A number of the silver coins appear under-priced. This applies particularly to the fractions of the silver tanka, but also to the tankas of Bahman Shah, the Fathabad tankas of Muhammad I, and the tankas of Ahmed II and Humayun.

Bahmanid Successor Sultanates These are generally well covered, though once again there is no consistency in the names given to the copper coinage. The ‘Imad Shahi’ falus of Berar is unfortunately not illustrated. When originally published (in JNSI?) the illustration provided was totally illegible. The Barid coins, types 603-8, are all under-priced as they remain very difficult to find. The square copper coins of Bijapur are under-priced and the last ruler, ‘Ala-ud-din Sikandar has lost his title on page 47. Underpricing also affects most of the earlier Golkonda coins.

Other Sultanates The short-lived sultanate of Kalpi is represented by two types: the usual coins of Fath-ud-din Jalal Shah (836-42 AH) and another coin attributed to Jalal Shah (944 AH). The title Jalal Shah is not readily seen on the illustrated coin and it would be good to know the basis for the attribution. The Kashmir section suffers from very poor reproduction of the illustrations. Coins are attributed to Shams Shah I and Sikandar Shah I which should be listed under Shams-ud-din II and Sikandar II. Type 2795 ع)‎ sansu of Zain al ‘Abidin) should have more than one R, as should 2887 (gold tanka of Mubarak Shah). The sansu of Habib Shah (Mahmud), type 2869 is much under-priced and the prices quoted for the sansu of Muhammad Yusuf Shah are clearly erroneous.

The coins struck by Haidar Doghlat in the name of Mughal emperor Humayun are included, but not those of Kashmir fabric struck in the name of Mughal emperor Akbar. Khandesh is represented by copper coins of two rulers. Most Madura coins are listed, though the billon type of ‘Adil Shah has been omitted. Everything is called tanka, even the 4 gram copper coins. The illustrations in this section are poor. The section on the Ghazni sultanate is of a significantly higher standard than the rest of the catalogue, with full transliterations of the coin legends being provided.

I have covered the contents of this catalogue at some length because it is an important publication. The various comments and criticisms detailed above should not detract from that. Dilip Rajgor should be congratulated on what he has achieved so far. It is understood that a second edition is due to appear in 1993. I hope the errors will be eradicated, the inconsistencies ironed out and more time devoted to improving the catalogue next time round. The sultanate series are a fascinating aspect of Indian numismatics and this work should do much to stimulate their study. SLG

An Important Dated Coin from the Arabian Peninsula by Bob Senior. The coin is of base silver and weighs 15.77 gm.

In recent years several coins have appeared that emanate from the western side of the Persian Gulf. Carmen Arnold-Biucchi recently wrote an article on such coins entitled ‘Arabian Alexanders’ in the ANS publication Mnemata: Papers in Memory of Nancy M Waggoner 1992. I have photographs of some 100 such coins in this series, many of which are as yet unpublished. The source of the majority of these coins is the Emirate of Sharjah and principally the sites of Mleiha and Ed Dur. The coins range from imitation Athenian coins to early imitations of the coins of Alexander the Great and finally very crude and base imitations of the latter. Associated coins found with these locally struck coins are an aureus of Augustus, a Characene tetradrachm of Attambelos III, and obol of Autophradates II of Persis and a Nabathaean A of Aretas (IV?) At some future date I may make a full listing of the types, but here I wish to draw attention to an unusual specimen that appears to bear a date.

The obverse is convex and blank. The reverse has the usual type of Zeus enthroned left holding an eagle on his outstretched hand (often he holds the forepart of a horse on these later issues). Monograms appear above and below his arm, and to the left and below the lower monogram appears the letter ‘shin’. To the right of the throne appears a Greek legend in two lines which may be the king’s name (usually a debased form of Alexander, or an Aramaic legend). In the exergue is the date in the Seleucid era written in retrograde form. The date reads AKT which is equivalent to 9/10 AD. The coin gives a point against which the rest of the extensive Arabian coinage related to it can be set.

A New Bull type Coin of Satkarni by S D Godbole

This coin came to me from a scrap dealer in Pune and is now in my cabinet. It is the first time a Satavahana coin has been found depicting a galloping bull. The bull has a tail curled upwards as on the lion coins of Junnar. The coin is quite different from the usual bull type coins of Satkarni, being influenced by the local Malwa coins. The chakra below the bull’s belly is often seen on the coins of the Janapadas. The present coin is attributed here to Satkarni I, and on that basis would appear to been minted in the Ist century BC after his Narmada expedition.

Satkarni, the successor of Krishna Satvahana is described as Mahatomaha in the Nanaghat inscription. The Puranas stated that he was a ruler for ten years. It also stated that Satkarni donated several cows artd karshapanas in his two Rajsuya and Ashwamedh Yadynas. ١

The coin may be described as follows: Metal: Lead. Weight 22 gm. Diam: 3.1 cm. Obverse: Galloping bull, tail curled upwards facing right; chakra below.

Brahmilegend

#7 4 فل‎ At Lf cad Siri Satakanisa beginning at 9 o’clock.

Reverse: Central pellet surrounded by four crescents, back-to-back, within a square, from each diagonal of which radiates an arrow. In each quarter an annulet surmounted by a crescent.

The coin types of Satkarni form a distinct class. Satkarni was an able and ambitious ruler. He was the king who brought the

Narmada region under his control. On the basis of the provenance of Satkarni’s Malwa type coins, it appears that the Satvahana empire under his control extended from the Deccan to central India.

As far as the reverse is concerned, there is a definite effort to introduce a new design with an affinity to Ujjayn coinage. There are arrow heads to four corners which may seek to symbolise the kingdom’s expansion on all sides. The metal is the traditional ‘Nevasa’ type, i.e., lead. which shows a link between the Pratisthan rulers and the Ujjayn rulers.

A British Medal Struck in Java by K W Wiggins

WHO

AUDAX INDEED MADE THE FORTUNA JUVAT REAL CONQUEST OF JAVA LONG LIVE OUR NOBLE BY TAKING BY STORM THE SPIRITED AND GALLANT KRATON OF THE SULTAN OF COMMANDIR IN CHIEF MATTARAMAT DJOKJA ROB ROLLO GILLESPIE KARTA ON THE 20th A.S.S.R.A. of June ee D Copper. Diameter 40mm.

A good many years ago I purchased the above medal for one shilling at a junk shop in Hastings. I thought little about it until some fifteen years later I went, in the course of my duties, to the scene of a road traffic accident where I found a slightly injured and somewhat dejected elderly gentleman sitting on the grass verge near his badly damaged sports-car. During the course of attending both to him

and the accident I asked him his name. It was Hugh John Rollo Gillespie. I enquired if he was in any way connected with Rob Rollo Gillespie. He was no doubt surprised at the question in view of his present predicament, but admitted that he was a descendant of the esteemed British soldier. He was later able to supply me with quite a deal of information concerning the person who is the subject of the above medal, Rob Rollo Gillespie.

Hugh Robert Rollo Gillespie, to give him his full name, was born in Ulster on the 21st January, 1766. He was descended from

a noble line of Scots and his grandfather who was the scion of the Clan Macpherson, after 1715 took refuge in Ulster. On the 28th April 1783, at the age of 17, he joined the British army and was appointed a cornet in the 3rd Horse Carabineers. By July, 1792 he had risen to the rank of lieutenant and in that year sailed for Jamaica. He served in Jamaica and San Domingo with the 13th Regiment of Foot and returned to England in 1794. The following year he was again posted to the West Indies and in 1799 he was made lieutenant colonel of the 20th Light Dragoons. In 1802 he and his regiment returned to England. Ordered to India in June, 1805, Gillespie made his way overland and eventually joined the19th Light Dragoons as lieut. colonel at Arcot, near Madras. On the 10th July, 1806 he was involved in putting down an army mutiny at Vellore.

Thel9th Light Dragoons were ordered home to England in 1807. Gillespie was appointed Inspector General of Cavalry and transferred to the 8th Royal Irish Dragoons at Cawnpore and later was promoted to Colonel and sent to the 25th Light Dragoons at Bangalore, South India.

The Napoleonic War was still being waged and the French had established themselves in the Netherlands East Indies, from which the British Government resolved to oust them. An expedition of 12,000 troops from India was organised under General Auchmuty, Commander-in-Chief Madras Army. Colonel Gillespie joined the force as commander of the First Division.

The expedition duly reached Java and got ashore. On August 26th, 1811, the British captured Fort Cornelis, near Batavia. After a short campaign Java was effectively under the control of the British and by mid-September the French forces had surrendered unconditionally. As a result of his ability in the field Gillespie was promoted to Major-General. In March 1812 he was given command of a small expedition to Palimbong in southern Sumatra, returning to Java in May.

About this time the Sultan of Mataram at D’jakarta was conspiring with other native potentates to raise rebellion in Java and Sumatra with the avowed intention of expelling all Europeans from the area. Getting wind of the plot, the British decided to take measures to nip the uprising in the bud.

Stamford Raffles, then Governor of Java, and Gillespie decided to march on D’jakarta and put an end to the Sultan’s scheme. On

the 17th June, Raffles and Gillespie arrived at D’jakarta, but not with their full force. They were attacked by the Sultan’s army of some

15,000 men and were hard put to hold their ground. On the 19th the main body of the British arrived making the total British/Indian force just 1,200 men. Gillespie decided to attack the Cratton (stronghold) of the Sultan as soon as possible, but to allay suspicion of his intentions, withdrew his whole force into a nearby Dutch fort. The British attack on the Cratton was made the next day and although it was a strong position, manned by 15,000 Javanese with 100 cannon, it was captured after only three hours of fighting by astute tactical moves. Gillespie was severely wounded in the arm whilst leading the assault. As a result of this victory the Sultan of Mataram was captured and deposed and later sent to Prince of Wales Island. For this action Gillespie was highly commended by the Governor General of India, by his Commander-in-Chief and by the Directors of the East India Company. He stayed in Java until October 1813 when he returned to India and was given command of the Meerut Division. The following year he was at war gain, this time with the Ghurkas of Nepal and boldly leading his troops, as he usually did, he was killed in action at Kalunga on the 31st October,

The medal shown here was almost certainly struck in Java, probably shortly after the action at D’jakarta. It is a simple medal merely signifying the esteem that the officers and men of the expeditionary force felt for their commander. Had a medal been proposed

and struck in India or England it would certainly have been a more artistic and ambitious piece with an heroic battle scene and certainly

a portrait. Such technical skill was quite probably beyond the capabilities of any engraver at a mint in Java.

Other points which suggest that the medal was struck in Java are:- (a) similarities of style between the lettering on the medal and that on the copper coins of Java struck between 1811 and 1814 at Sourabaya, (b) the piece is weakly struck and the obverse double struck, signifying that the press could not cope with such a large flan. It will also be noted that the word commander is incorrectly spelt.

It therefore seems very likely that this medal was struck at Sourabaya, as all coinage under the British Administration was struck there. Only tin doits were produced in Batavia in 1813 and 1814. The engraver is not known, but Scholten* mentions a certain Inche Maiman as a capable engraver of later coins.

The letters at the bottom of the obverse of the medal present something of a mystery. This part is particularly weak, but the letters AS 5 R A are there with…..D below them. I can offer no suggestion as to their meaning.

* Scholten C The Coins of the Dutch Overseas Territories, Amsterdam, 1953.

Some Enigmatic Copper Coins

by Ken Wiggins and Stan Goron AE. Weights: 11.46 and 11.98 grams.

2: 6 9re \_

The copper coins, of which photographs appear above, are known from several sources but they appear to be rare and, as yet, of unknown provenance. In the hope that some member or members may be able to assist with their attribution they are published here

and it would be helpful if anyone who has such coins would be good enough to send details and an illustration to the editor.

The obverse and reverse inscriptions have been constructed from a few specimens and are thought to be virtually complete. However, they afford little information which would enable them to be assigned to any particularly realm or ruler. The coins are definitely Indian, two examples in the editor’s former collection having been acquired along with a miscellany of Deccani coppers. The inscription on the obverse has not been successfully read while the reverse contains the words sanah 927 and raij. The mark on both sidesis © which is fairly common on the coins of a number of Indian series and also on Ottoman coins. The date of AH 927 (AD 1520-21) provides a starting point for further enquiries and as the coins do not conform to any known types of the better known Indian dynasties of the time it is possible that they were issued by one of the smaller polities of whom few

or no coins have been published, viz. the Faruqi Sultans of Khandesh, the Barid Shahis of Bidar, the Imad Shahis of Berar, or some other Deccan state.

Unfortunately, the photograph depicting the coin with the clear date is not good enough for reproduction here.

The ‘Thousand Character’ Coins of Guang Xu by David Hartill

The ‘Thousand Character’ Coins of Guang Xu, Emperor of China from 1875 to 1908 are well known to collectors. They have the normal inscriptions of the Boards of Revenue and Works, including the privy marks of the mint branches, but above the hole on their reverses that have a character taken from the “Thousand Character Classic”, an ancient poem written with a thousand different characters which were frequently used as a numbering system, for example, in the Palace Examinations, or on the bank notes of Xian Feng of the 1850.1

None of the normal sources seem to say when and why these coins were cast, but I have discovered the following edict tucked away in a series of documents relating to the coinage regulations of Yunnan.

GUANG XU 25TH YEAR (1899) EDICT. In the former eras of Shun Zhi and Kang Xi, the coin’s reverse was left blank. In future add to the coin pattern one character in ordinary script according to the Thousand Character Classic. The character is to be changed each quarter so that on examination it will not be difficult to distinguish the season. Memorialise the Throne accordingly.2 The month in which this edict was issued is not given, but we can assume that the seven different characters recorded each

represent a separate quarter and so the issue spans the period from 1899 to 1901. It appears that the characters were chosen at random, so no chronological order can be assigned to them.

Occasionally such characters are found on coins of the provincial mints, but one can imagine that the provinces would not be best pleased at the additional expense of creating new master coins every three months, and that the practice soon lapsed. Daniel K E Ching Sale Catalogue, see lot 14. 2 Xu Yunnan Tongzhi. \

WR U3

yu zhou ri. lie lai wang shou char. no.

a

Late News A collection of oriental coins is due to feature in the June 1992 auction of Heidelberger Miinzhandlung, Herbert Griin, BergstraBe 29A, 6900 Heidelberg, Germany.

Printed by Galata Print, The Old White Lion, Market Street, Llanfyllin, Powys.