Hello,
I failed to identify this tiny silver coin :
Weight : 0,52g
Diameter : 8mm
Observe : sanskrit and arab (?) inscriptions around something ?
Reverse : pictural (a deity, an animal, or something else ?)
I already tried to post it on Zeno and on another plateform but I didn't get any answers yet.
This coin is definitely Pre-Islamic Indian coin. The script on the first image could be "Kharoshthi", which was a written form for "Prakrit Language". This language was adapted by Indo-Greek kingdoms for their coins. I found similarty between the top-middle letter on first image and Kharoshthi letter for "pri". This could mean that this coin even predates the Christian era (BC). The second image felt like rain drops over harvest and a sun on the top. Punjab is known for its rich harvest and was populated by Indo Greek Civilization.
Indeed, I just got a confirmation about the pre-islamic period in Indian for this coin, but a later issue.
According to him, the first picture could represent a trident surrounding by the name of the king.
So it could be a damma related to the "Yashaditya" serie and attributed to the Kingdom of Sind.
However, the lettering doesn't seem to fit well and they are only known from a single newly discovered hoard.
I guess the "pri" is an old form of "sri" here with the left part missing ? https://www.ma-shops.com/fishman/item.php?id=333&lang=en
If so, the name of the ruler seems different as well.
Having a second thought, the Sri could be the letter at 5 o'clock too...
Yes, you are absolutely right. The "Tri-Shool" (Trident) is the most evident similarity in all of these coins, so yes this could be from the same group of coinage.
No worries, I had trouble to figure out what it was on this side as well : I noticed the inscriptions but I had no clues about the center part and didn't manage to find the script used on this coin.
?
