Ga-Den Tangka Hammered Coinage

Posted by slang on August 5, 2009

These silver coins are the Ga-Den Tangka Coinage which are hammered coins. Tibet is a well known Buddhist  country hence we see many buddhist and feng-shui auspicious symbols in a Ga-Den coin. In fact, the Ga-Den Tangka has been known to be the most common and most beautiful of all Tibetan silver coins.

General details:

A. On the obverse side, is a stylized LOTUS flow within a circle surrounded by the 8 Buddhist lucky symbols in radiating petals.

Meanings for Obverse side of Types C through H

1-Umbrella of sovereignty

2-Two golden fish of good fortune

3-Amphora of ambrosia

4-Lotus

5-Conch shell

6-Emblem of endless birth

7-Banner of victory

8-Wheel of empire

B. On the reverse side of this coin is an 8-petalled wheel(flower) within a star surrounded by a Tibetan inscription(reading Ga-den Place, victories in all directions) which is broken up into 8 oval frames.

C.  The Ga-Den Place is the former residence of the Dalai Lamas, located in Drepung Monastery near Lhasa.

New Paisa Coin With The Legend Of King Asoka

Posted by slang on July 28, 2009

Occasionally a coin would be minted with some legends to depict the history of the country.( see Ireland’s Penny coin),

One typical coin is the new Paisa India coin.On this coin, we see the legend of Ashoka Pillar at Sarnath which is the National Emblem of India and at the base of the Pillar is crowned by the  Ashoka Chakra” which represent the wheel of the law of dharma. The Ashoka Pillar and Ashoka Chakra are closely associated with the famous “ideal king” who is King Ashoka.  He was the most famous of the Mauryan kings and was one of the greatest rulers of India. Many historians and others viewed him as the “ideal” ruler.

 A little brief background of the very famous Indian King:-

1. Asoka was born in 265 B.C. as the grandson of Changragupta Maurya
2. He was a fearless conqueror who ruled over an empire that covered two-thirds of the Indian continent. The capital of the empire was in the city of Pataliputra (modern day Patna), where Buddha had lived.
3. After 8 years of  battle and the successful annexation of Kalinga (Orissa) into his kingdom, he was horrified by the loss of life and death of so many soldiers and civilians that he converts himself into a Buddhist
4. As an extremely competent and courageous administrator, he achieved and contributed many benefits to his people. Among his many achievements includes:

• Promoting prosperity and peace within society. 
• Religiously followed the principles of Buddhism – that of truth, charity, kindness, purity and goodness and virtuous action and able to ask his people to follow so.
• He believed in non-violence and banned the sacrifice of animals. Besides this he opened clinics for birds and animals too. His good works earned him the name of Devanamapriya Priyadarshi.
• He propagated Buddhism by engraving it’s principles on pillars throughout his kingdom. The Ashoka pillars, as they are now called, were over 40 feet high and extremely heavy.
• He also attempted to spread Buddhism on a global basis by even sending his son Mahendra and daughter Sangamitra to Sri Lanka for this purpose.
• He built 84,000 stupas, Sangharama, viharas, Chaitya, and residences for Buddhist monks all over South Asia and Central Asia.
• He provided humanitarian help including doctors, hospitals, inns, wells, medical herbs and engineers to his neighboring countries. In his neighboring countries Ashoka helped humans as well as animals.
• He was perhaps the first emperor in human history to ban slavery, hunting, fishing and deforestation.
• He banned the death sentence and asked the same for the neighboring countries.
• He was also kind to prisoners, and respected animal life and tree life.
• He allowed females to be educated and enter religious institutions.

Klippe Coins

Posted by slang on July 27, 2009

Klippe coins are square or diamond shaped coins minted on square flans. Generally they are issued under unusual situation like a city was under siege. An example is when such emergency coins were issued in Vienna in 1529, when the city was besieged by the troops of the Ottoman Empire.

However, some klippes were made as a regular issue, such as the many issues of the city of Salzburg in Austria, where klippe coin were made in silver and gold for many centuries.