An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c8.s1.t3.1

v1.c8.s1.t3.1

Side by side with the coinage of N. and C. India there was that of the Deccan and the S. coastline. Different techniques for manufacturing coins had evolved in the S. at an early stage and had reached a reasonable degree of perfection by the Sātavāhana period. But the acceptance of die-striking which became the only major technique in the N. at an early date does not, for some reason or other, find its expected parallel in the s. In fact the practice of punch-ing small devices on one side of the coins, leaving the other side completely blank, persisted in the s. and was one of the major techniques current towards the close of the period. Gold and copper were primarily used for s. coinage, silver being very rare. There were two denomi-nations in gold, the *hon varāha* or *pagoda* (weighing 3·240 to 3·888 g) and the *fanam* (weighing ·324 to ·388 g), based respectively on the weights of two seeds, the *Kalañju* and the *mañjāḍi*. Copper coins were called *kāśu*. The rare silver coins appear to follow the gold standard. Gold coins had an independent development in the s. The earliest specimens, of doubtful age, are spherules of plain gold with a minute punch-mark on one side; these developed into the cup-shaped *padma-ṭaṅkas*, stamped with punches, first on one side only and later on both. Finally came die-struck pieces, of which the small thick Vijayanagara *pagodas* are the typical s. form. Another characteristic feature of s. Indian coinage is the preference for tiny coins.