History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c14.s1.7

v1.c14.s1.7

The method of letting the molten metal flow down the hollow column was less time-consuming than that of pouring through the opening in each pair of discs. In the former case several coins could be made in one single operation. However, it also had greater risk of loosing part of the metal before reaching the socket. Commenting on the above noted moulds from Sunet, B. Sahni has observed that two or more cylindrical piles of moulds have been joined together “round a vertical axis so as to bring all the individual channels into communication with the single axial canal fed through a crater at the top” (Sahni, 1945, p.36). Similar Roman coin moulds have been discovered at Lingwell Gate in England (Sahni, 1945, pp.36 and 52; Pl. VII, Figs. 143-45). It is significant to note that the Sunet moulds of the later Yaudheya coins are to be dated long after the inception of Indo- Roman trade.