The Colas c31.4

c31.4

By the side of several inscriptions which seem to employ the *kaḻañju* in recording payments by weight, there are some which mention the *pon* and equate it to the *kaḻañju*, implying thereby that the *pon* was coined gold of the full weight of one *kaḻañju*.⁶ This coin was also called *madhurāntakadēvan-māḍai*, served as the standard of fineness for testing gold,⁷ and yielded the same interest as one *kaḻañju* of fine gold. This coin is mentioned in the thirty-first year of Rājarājadēva,⁸ and if this king was Rājarāja I, as seems likely, its issue must have been commenced under his predecessor Madhurāntaka Uttama Cōḷa.