Ancient Lanka - Bull and Fish Type

Pandya Infuence 824 - 943

A irregualar copper coin found from the period of Pandya influence in Lanka with the seated bull on obverse and two or three fish on reverse.

SPECIFICATIONS Alloy Cu Type Struck ? Diameter 17.7 mm Thickness 1.8 mm Weight 1.4 gms Shape Round DieAxis O°
Alloy Cu Type Struck ? Diameter 18.8 mm Thickness 1.0 mm Weight 1.24 gms Shape Round DieAxis 150°
		Mitchiner818 #

Obverse : Humped bull seated right with lamps on either side; cresent above and stabd below.
Reverse : Two fishes horizontal, upper facing left and lower right between two lamps, ; cresent above and stand below represented by three parallel lines, the middle one being shorter than the other two.

The "Horizontal Fishes and Bull" type seems to belong to a period pahaps an century earlier than the Sinhala Invasion by ParakaramaBahu I

See also heavier coin with the Two fish on reverse in opposite directions.

Text edited from
* Ceylon Coins and Currency By H. W. Codrington. Colombo 1924
  Page 86 Chapter VII Medaeval Indian - Pandya

The coin was scanned at 300 dpi and displayed at 300 dpi. It was given to me in 1999 December as a gift by a collector and dealer in Lanka as gratitude for introducing him to ebay..