By E. H. C. Walsh, C.S.I. The coins which are described in the present paper were found on the northern slope of the Rakha Hills in the district of Singhbhum. They were found buried about one foot below the surface. Three of the coins were lying exposed to view, and this led to further search by the removal of the top soil. In all, 363 coins were discovered lying together. Small fragments of a broken clay pot were found with the coins, and might or might not have been used originally to contain the coins. The pieces of pot are, however, so small that no conclusions can be drawn from them. The coins were found in one place; the major portion were discovered on May 31st, 1917, and the balance a few days later, upon a further search being made. Nothing corresponding to a mould was discovered, and no evidence has been discovered, as yet, that a Mint stood near the place where the coins were found. An old road runs past the place of find in close proximity to a small river, within a quarter of a mile of ancient copper workings and surrounded by copper-slag heaps. It is possible that the Mint might have been erected near the spot. The fact that the edges of the coins had not been trimmed lende a measure of support to this possibility. The coins are of the type known as "Puri Kushan," so called from the fact that a number of those coins were found in the Puri District in 1893 and were described by Dr. Hoernle in the Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal in 1895. 3 The coins which are illustrated on the Plate to the present Paper, are in the Bihar and Orissa Coin Cabinet in the Patna Museum and are serials, Nos. 831 to 812, in the General Register-E. H. W. The above information has been kindly furnished by Mr. C. Olden, Superintendent of the Cape Copper Company, Ltd., Rakha Hills Mines, within whose mining lease the place, where the coins were found, is situated. 3 3 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1895, pp. 61-65. 1 The find in that case consisted of 548 copper coins, which were found buried in a small earthen pot, two feet below the surface, while excavating earthworks at Gurbai Salt Factory at Manikaratna in the Puri District. They consisted of two distinct varieties. 47 of the coins were die-struck but were so much worn down by usage, that the designs on most of them are barely discernible. "On some of them, however, sufficient remains to identify them with coins of the Indo-Scythian class. The obverse shows the well-known standing figure of king Khanishka pointing with his right hand down to the fire-alter; the reverses show figures of MAO or MIIPO, AEPO, and OADO, as seen on Kanerki coins. No trace of the legend remains; and in its absence, of course, it is impossible to be quite certain of the identity; but the resemblance of the figures on both the obverses and reverses to those on the corresponding Kanerki coins is very striking....... .....The whole of the remainder of the coins are cast coins, and very crude imitations of those of Kanerki. They all show two standing figures, one on each face of the coin, with their arms in varying positions. There is no legend but most of them are marked with a crescent placed in varying parts of the field. Accordingly they may be distributed into the following classes and varieties." 991 These latter "Puri Kushan" coins were of different varieties and were classified by Dr. Hoernle as follows: Class 1-No crescent on either side,-84 coins. The coins of this class were of five varieties according to the position of the figures. : Class 11.--With crescent on the reverse in the left top of the field,-42 coins. The coins of this class were of seven varieties according to the position of the figures. Class III.-With crescent on reverse in right top of field,309 coins. The coins of this class were of three varieties according to the position of the figures. 1 Proc. A. S. B, 1895, p. 63. Class IV.-With crescent on both obverse and reverse, 19 coins. The coins of this class were of seven varieties according to the position of the figures. Class V. With crescent on head of reverse figure,-1 coin. There had, however, been a previous find of coins of this type in the Ganjam district in 1858 which are described by Mr. Walter Elliot in the Madras Journal of Literature and Science, 1858.1 The coins in that case were found about 4 miles to the west of Purushottampur in the district of Ganjam where "close to the modern village of Pandya are the remains of an extensive but now deserted town, surrounded by the debris of a lofty wall." The coins are described as follows: "In the neighbourhood of this place numbers of copper coins are found, of a type different from any other hitherto met with in Southern India, but presenting a striking resemblance to those of the Indo-Scythian group, more especially to the coins of Kanerki. All are much worn, but the following wood-cut represents one of the most perfect. "The figure on the obverse and reverse is the same, but in the cut, the position of the arms has been reversed, the right hand being represented down, and the left up, whereas it is the right which should be raised, and the left down. "No traces of Scythian domination have hitherto been met with so far to the south, but it is hardly possible to look at the design in the above figure and not to identify it with those impressed on the money of that race." : Nine of the Puri coins in the India Museum are described. in Vincent Smith's Catalogue of Coins in the India Museum and an illustration of one is given in Plate XIV. fig. 14. Mr. Vincent Smith notes "it is impossible to fix the date of the excessively rude coins from Puri and Ganjam, of which The Madras Journal of Literature and Science edited by the Committee of the Madras Literary Society and Auxiliary Asiatic Society. Pages 75-77 and 78. (No. 7, New Series, April to September, 1858), 2 I. M. C., Vol. I, pp. 92-93. |