Book Title: Indian Antiquary Vol 42
Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Devadatta Ramkrishna Bhandarkar
Publisher: Swati Publications

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Page 128
________________ 124 THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY (APRIL, 1913. Fig. 4. Tin "snakeweight or coin from Mergui (ante, p. 119) with debased Arabic characters on reverse, or what may be a date All=A. H. 811=A. D. 1408. See also ante, p. 103, for another specimen from Tavernier, Travels, 1678, copied by Orawford, Hist. Ind. Archipel., 1820, I., 253. It is quite possible that the "anake" weight is only a debased or "developed" to. Cf. Figs 3 and 4 on this plate, and the various developments of the to in Phayre's plates, ante, p. 123). Fig. 5. Tin cock coin or perhaps counter, token or tally, from Mergui. Reverse has a badly inscribed Burmese legend which reads :- thathanadav (in the year of) religion : date illegible. This is probably the tin coin from Mergui "about the size of a rapee" mentioned ante, p. 119, and also that recorded by Sangermano (Burmese Empire, ed. Tandy, 1838, p. 167) as current between 1781 and 1808:- "In Tavai and Mergui pieces of tin with the impregsion of a cock which is the Burmese arma 60 are used for money." Taking the ratio of tin to silver as 10:1, the value of this coin would be 5 cents of Malay money.07 Plate VI. All the figures are from Ridgeway's Origin of Metallic Currency and Weights Standards. Fig. 1. Coin of Salamis in Cyprus, showing lamb weight (p. 172). Fig. 2. An ancient Egyptian weighing with ox weights and rings (p. 128). Fig. 8. Coin of Orcesus, showing lion and ox weights (p. 298). Fig. 4. Lamb weights, Syria and Persia (p. 271). Fig. 5. Chinese hoe money (p. 28). Fig. 6. Assyrian duck weight (p. 245), which is perhaps a debased "bull's head" (p. 247). Fig. 7. A Jewish (P Assyrian) bull's head weight (p. 283). Fig. 8. An Assyrian lion weight (p. 245). Fig. 9. Chinese knife money (p. 157). Plate VII. Fig. 1 is a representation, from Plate LVII. of Cunningham's Barhut Stupa, of Anathapindika dedicating the Jetavana (Jeta's park) to the Buddha, after having purchased it for a layer of crores (of treasure)." See ante, p. 115. The scene shows Anāthapiņdika himself with a libation ewer in his hands, standing beside the holy mango tree surrounded by a Buddhist railing. It also shows the two, Gandhakuti and Kosambakuti, shrines built in the garden and the attendant crowd. In front of Anathapiņdika is his treasurer tallying the contents of a bullock cart, which is in the process of being unladen. The bullocks have been taken out and are lying down. A basket of stamped ingots is being drawn off the cart by a cooly; another is carrying a basket of them on his shoulder and two others are spreading them over the ground under three sandal-wood trees. Every ingot is stamped with what appears to be a letter or figure.. Fig. 2. A half cash-tree, showing thirteen cash without the Raja's stamp at the top. The cash bear date 1314= A. D. 1896. (To be continued.) • Really the hentha, goose. 07 The Malay tin coin mentioned by Pyrard de Laval (ante, p. 109, n. 13) in 1603 was worth ball Albuquerque, or 10 conta. That mentioned by Tavernier, 1678 (ante, p. 108), was worth loont. bastardo of

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