INDIA 11 CENTURY WORLD'S SMALL RARE ONE PIECE GOLD COIN

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BRIEF DETAILS ABOUT THIS COINS ARE:

PARAMETER

Shape               : Intended to be Circular

Size                  : ranges between 2 to 4mm

Weight             : 0.40 to 0.42 gm  for ten pieces

Metal               : High Purity malleable Gold

Fabric              : Die Struck

INTRODUCTION

The modern Karnataka was ruled by various Hindu dynasties such as Rashtrakutas, Chalukyas, Hoysalas, Gangas, Kadambas, Alupas, Rayas of Vijayanagaras, Nayakas of Bednore and Keladi, Yadavas, Wodeyars till the Muslim invasion took place. Then came yet another wave of Colonial traders that controlled the destiny of India. Karnataka was not an exception any more.

COINAGE

In the region of Karnataka, Gadhyanas were the higher denomination of currency, which also termed as Pagoda, Varaha, Honnu, Chinna, etc. Indirectly they were based on the Ratti Standard. The next denomination was the fanam, which invariably equated to 1/10^th of a Gadhyana or Varaha. From these two major units, there derived few divided currencies such as Half Varaha, Half Pagoda, Quarter Pagoda, Half Fanam, Quarter fanam etc. For Fanams, unit fanam and quarter fanams were the commonest units and were circulated by various dynasties and even the Colonial powers such as British, Dutch, French, Danish etc.  Half Fanam has been the rarest, and there are less than a dozen known half fanams mostly unpublished.

Like how the rain brings a good crop, the moderate to heavy rainfall also brings in a wonderful crop of hidden treasures by flooding out the alluvial soil of the region. Most of the stray finds occurs around the Monsoon period and this monsoon has brought to limelight a wonderful small hoard of tiniest fanams which weighed 1/10^th of a tiny fanam (0.37 to 0.42gms for every ten tiny units).

These fractional fanams exhibited the following characteristics.

They contains the attribute, mostly of Lord Vishnu( Sustainer in Hindu Mythology), namely : Shankh – the conch shell, Chakra – the discus, Gadha (Goad). Some fanams carried the spiky structure which could be interpreted as Flower (could be Padma), or the Holy tree.  These uninscribed coins poses a great challenge for assigning it to a particular dynasty. It needs further detailed research though find-spot is found to be around Hospet. Based on the purity, and the weight standard, it could only be attributed to period between 11^th to 13^th century AD. The device such Shanka Chakra are seen on the coins issued by Chalukyas, Kadambas of Hangal, and even the feudatories of Chalukyas.

One may suspect on how were they handled? All can be said is that – if they were not  handled properly, we would not have had a chance to see them in our hand, and moreover they are still not displaced. Amazing!