SIGNIFICANCE OF RELIGIOUS SYMBOLISM ON 'COINED MONEY' WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO SOUTH INDIAN COINAGE (original) (raw)

2020, Studies in South Indian Coins, Vol. 29

All over the world, the barter system, obviously, proved to be insufficient and not suitable for the fast growing economy and trade during the ancient period in the long run. This led to the decline in commodity exchange and ultimately metal became the common medium of exchange among the civilizations which flourished on the banks of the great rivers. The necessity of certifying the metal becomes inevitable to make the transactions, cost of weighing the quantity and testing the purity for each time. This paved the way for the appearance of religious symbols and motifs to become an authentication mark on the metal piece to guarantee the weight and the purity. Anything that affects the human being either good or evil had become an object of worship. Mountains, rivers, springs, trees, plants, were invoked as many other high powers. Animals and the weapons used in connection with sacrifice were considered as sacred and were regarded as deities themselves. The fore part of the lion and the bull on the coins of Lydia became symbols of the Sun and the Moon, the tortoise on the di-drachm of Aegina is regarded as a symbol of Aphrodite, the goddess of fertility equivalent to the Roman Venus (W Ridge way, 1892).

Deities on Ancient Indian Coins

India’s living mythology is unique among world cultures, and it is reflected in all aspects of its civilization. While a misnomer, its ‘33 crore Gods and Goddesses’ are to be found in all spheres of life in India, and numismatics is no exception. This paper aims to document all the important coins with deities in ancient Indian numismatic history. The time frame in question is around 6th century BC when coins were first produced, down to the Gupta era in around 500 CE. Though this is primarily an account of the deities issued on coins, the paper also traces some parallel religious and iconographic developments through the eras.

Divinity and Motifs on Early Indian Coins

2019

Coins as a symbol of ideas and ideals, working behind the mind of the rulers at different periods, open up a most comprehensive and interesting study. Although references to coins occur in the early Indian Literature, punch-marked coins are found the earliest ones spread over a large area 2 from Pakistan in the northwest to Tamilnadu (India) in the south; from Taxila (Pakistan) in the west to Chandraketugarh (India) in the east. These comprise both silver and copper coins; in the first group, bent bar coins from Taxila are also included. Their chronology is not definite, however, their beginning may be assigned to the sixth-fifth century BC.

The Star and Crescent on Ancient Coins

Living in a world without electric lights, most ancient people were much more familiar with the night sky than we are, and the stars and planets were very important to their view of the universe. Many believed that events in the sky were closely linked to events on earth; a belief that developed into the pseudo-science of astrology. At least four different Greco-Roman goddesses had a lunar connection: Hecate, Selene, Artemis (Diana), and Aphrodite (Venus). The star and crescent appears as a powerful symbol with many meanings, and it is often found on ancient coins.

Ancient Indian coins & symbolism And The Roots of Indian culture

Pushpa Prakshan, 2021

Before the Buddhist era, unfortunately, no written records are available to throw light on the socio-political history of ancient India. Purana texts are loaded with myths and heavy corruption, making them mostly unreliable. The Vedic religious texts, though boast of their religious supremacy, the available physical proofs speak otherwise. There is a misconception that there ever was the Vedic Age, but no proof has surfaced so far to substantiate this claim. Vedic texts claim many things drawing an imaginary timeline of the Vedas being first followed by Brahmanas, Upanishads, Smriti, Purana era, etc. Linguistics also heavily depends on this imaginary timeline and attempts to draw a picture that is far from the truth. But what is the fact?

“Coins in Ancient India : Technology and their illustration

In Ancient period available evidences in respect of the oldest coinage of India reveal that due to unsuitable medium (Cows, Indra and Soma plant) for store or as the object of high value for long term saving , an alternative medium nishka (an ornament) was introduced by the Vedic people. The Jatakes, the Vedic texts and Satapatha Brahmana mentioned that the nishk latter use as like currency. Hiranyapinds used for making ornaments.in Ancient India coins play a vital role in society,culture & economy

Loading...

Loading Preview

Sorry, preview is currently unavailable. You can download the paper by clicking the button above.

The spread of coins in the Hellenistic world

P. Bernholz and R. Vaubel (eds), Explaining Monetary and Financial Innovation. A Historical Analysis. Financial and Monetary Policy Studies 39. Heidelberg: Springer, pp. 169-195, 2014