Indian Antiquary Vol 24

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 26

22
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
(JANUARY, 1895.
the earth. On St. Blaze's Day, in England, people used to burn great fires on hills. In England, on Midsummer Eve people passed throngh fire to be free from agues.10 Even now, in the north of England, fire is not allowed to go out on Holloweven, Midsummer Eve, Christmas Eve and New'Year's Eve 11 This custom used to be observed for the prosperity of state and people, and to dispel every kind of evil.2 Candles are burnt in Roman Catholic churches with the object of scaring spirits.13
(To be continued.)
IN DO-DANISH COINS.
T. M. RANGA CHARI AND T, DESIKA CHARI. No authentic information exists regarding the history of the Danish Mint at Tranquebar, but as far as can be gathered, the Danes in India struck there no fewer than three hundred varieties of coins in lead, copper, silver and gold. It does not appear that there was any mint in the other Danish Settlements in India, viz., at Porto Novo, Serampore, or Balasore.
Out of the three hundred varieties above mentioned only about eighty can now be obtained in India. Many of these were published by us in 1888,1 and the rest have been recently dealt with by Dr. E.Hultzsch, Government Epigraphist, Bangalore. One remarkable piece, however, has hitherto remained unpublished, and that is the lead Cas of Frederiok III. (A. D. 1618-70):
Obv. - The crowned monogram of the king - F. 3. Rev. - The Royal escutcheon of Denmark.
By far the oldest and the most difficult to obtain of the Tranquebar issues are those in lead; and when met with, they are so much oxidised, that it is scarcely possible to decipher the legend on them. Lend was coined into money only in the first three reigns, and the coinage commenced with Christian IV. in the year 1640; but the earliest lead coin bearing date, so far as we know, was of the year 1644. None of these lead issues bear on them the value of the coin, in this particular differing from the later copper coinage. The coins of Christian IV., indeed, have on them the legend Cas, but even then, the exact value is omitted. Unlike the copper issues also, the lead ones were of numerous varieties, not less than a dozen different kinds of coins being stated to have been struck in the reign of Frederick III. alone. Some of them afford a clue to the place of mintage, Tranquebar, by the presence on them of the letters D. B. or T. B., standing for Dansborg (the Fort at Tranquebar), or Tranquebar; and in the reign of Christian V. it appears to have been usual to insert on the coins the initials of the mint officer : thus, W. H. (van) K. [alnien).
It would be both a useful and an interesting enquiry to ascertain bow it was that a metal so easily liable to decay as lead, came to be chosen as a mediam of currency during the infancy of the Indo-Danish Settlement. That in early days there was a scarcity of this metal is evident from the records of the travellers who then visited India. The author of the Periplus mentions tin and lead among the imports of Baragazni (Bharôch) on the Western Coast, and of Nelkunda (conjectured by Col. Yule to have been between Kanetti and Kolum in Travancore). Sir Walter Elliott also refers to a passage in Pliny, where it is stated that "India has neither brass nor lead, receiving them in exchange for precious stones and pearls." The only ancient Hindu kingdom that is known to have possessed a lead currency was that of the Andhras, and Sir W. Elliott has suggested that the scarcity of lead in those days might afford some explanation for this peculiarity in the Andhra coinage. • Brand's Popular Antiquities, Vol. I p. 100.
Op.cit. Vol. I. p. 52. Op. cit. Vol L p. 999. 11 Henderson's Folk Lors, p. 72. 13 Op. cit. p. 801. 18 Tylor's Primitire Culture, VoL IL. P. 196. 1 "Indo-Danish Coins": Madras Journal of Literature and Science for the session 1888-89. * Ante, Vol. XXII. Pp. 116-122
The Commerce and Navigation of the Erythraen Sea, by J. W. MoCrindle, M.A. (Trübner and Co. 1879) D. 182. • Ibid. p. 136. Numismata Orientalia-Coins of Southern Indir, p. 22
Op. cit., loc. cit.