The Indian Coins in the Museum Chennai

The Government Museum, Chennai has a rich collection of the ancient, mediaeval and modern Indian coins, gold, silver, copper, lead, potin and billion. Besides these there is a representative collection of foreign coinage.

One of their collection is Puranas or Punch-Marked Coins. Puranas are the earliest money coined in India . They were in circulation during the centuries long before the beginning of the Christian era. Sanskrit writers such as Manu and Panini, and the Buddhist Jataka stories have made mention of these coins.

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A Map of the Ancient World on the Phoenician Coin?

Neither Columbus nor the Vikings were the first non-natives to set foot on the Americas if Mark McMenamin is correct. Working with computer-enhanced images of gold coins minted in the Punic/Phoenician city in North Africa of Carthage between 350 and 320 BC, McMenamin has interpreted a series of designs appearing on these coins, the meaning of which has long puzzled scholars. McMenamin believes the designs represent a map of the ancient world, including the area surrounding the Mediterranean Sea and the land mass representing the Americas.

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Islamic Coin in Indonesia

The People of Indonesia were already familiar with coinage in the pre-Islamic era. The spread of Islam coincided with a major expansion in trade. Newly Islamised ports such as Pasai, Melaka, and Banten soon began to mint low-value coinage suitable for everyday use. These new coins were sometimes modelled after Muslim types from India and southwest Asia, sometimes after Chinese models. These coins were made of gold and silver, but more commonly of bronze, lead, or tin. The spread of these coins facilitated the evolution of new social institutions.

Source: Indonesian Heritage Book Series