Next club meeting - Monday 5^th. November 2007.

• Hop Tokens by Duncan Pennock

Meetings are held at the Abbey Baptist Church, Abbey Square, commencing at 7.00 p.m.

This month’s talk was by Barbara Mears of Spink on TheCoinage of Southern India post 1500. Barbara started collecting UK coins then went to India and was surprised how cheap and interesting Indian coins were and started collecting them. She showed some Islamic coins pointing out that they do not have portraits on them but had much information in script. This compares with Hindu coins which do not have so much writing but much more symbolism. For example, a monkey sitting in a particular position indicates a seated King, also the Monkey Hamiran who was the servant of Vishnu and a great warrior, ie. the King is representing himself as Kingly, a servant of God and a great warrior.

The next coin was from the Chola dynasty and showed a tiger, a fish and a bow – again symbolic as these represented the three groups that were incorporated in the Kingdom. Another ruler was Vijay Nagara, again the coins did not bear his portrait but many symbols which would have indicated to the people the attributes of the ruler. Another often used symbol was a bull. Many rulers used the bull but also had a symbol such as a dagge indicating the subject ruler. The elephant was used as a Kingly symbol. The Sun and Moon or stars indicated longevity ie. may the King rule as long as the Sun and stars shine. Another dynasty was called Gajaraga (Elephant King).

Five Sansama brothers were Hindu soldiers who are perceived as the main Hindu resistance against the Islamic invaders. They were the originators of the dagger symbol. The Empire was composed of many small Kingdoms ruled by tributary kings and every year they had to go to their overlord and pay tribute. Later the Emperors imposed Governors or Nyaks on the Kingdoms, so a further round of symbolism occurs.

Barbara next showed some gold Fanams. The original design was of a lion with a Sun and Moon but in subsequent issues the design degenerates so much that they were not recognisable. Then Barbara showed a larger coin with a seated deity (Shiva the destroyer) on one side, others showing Brahma (the creator) and thirdly Vishnu (the preserver). Vishnu was married to three wives each of whom represented certain attributes and were therefore often represented on these large gold coins.

A further coin showed Krishna (another manifestation of Vishnu) with a Conch. This was used by the Kulara Dynasty who had taken over the Vijay Nagara Empire. These coins all weighed 3.5gms which was the same as the European Ducat or Ottoman Sultani so facilitating trade. As most transactions involved weighing the coins there was little clipping though debasement does occur.

Finally the Islamic rulers united and utterly defeated the Hindu rulers, forcing the Kings into exile and this is shown on their coins. To complete the proceedings Barbara showed some of the coins issued by the Nyaks. The gold 3.5gm coin was called a pagoda (Bahara in local dialect) the smaller gold coin was a Fanam and the copper coins were cash.

Many thanks to Barbara for a very interesting talk.

Will the few persons yet to pay their club subscriptions please do so at the next meeting.

The Autumn dinner/ social evening is on Saturday 24th November at the Cunning Man in Burghfield, South of Reading for members and partners. The cost will be a fixed price of £20 per person for the meal, wine and pre-dinner drink. If you wish to come please contact a committee member or add your name to the list at the next meeting. We will start collecting payments at the next meeting.

The December meeting will be a members evening along the same lines as last year. The main feature will be a bourse (coin fair). We need as many members as possible to bring along those unwanted items to sell and for others to buy. Tables will be available at no charge. For those with just a few pieces there will be a collective members table.

As this is a members evening we need you all to participate to make it a success. If you have any other ideas we would like to hear them - please contact a committee member.

The subject for the January meeting is short talks by members, competing for the Mark Myhill memorial trophy. As usual we are short of entries. Members willing to give a talk should please contact a committee member either at the November or December meeting, or by phone so that the committee can schedule the agenda for the evening. The talk can be on any numismatic related topic and need only last for 10 -15 minutes.

The club auction is due to take place at the beginning of February. This may seem a long way off but you will need to start thinking about pieces you wish to include in the sale. Please bring along your coins, medals, tokens, banknotes and any other numismatic material to any of the forthcoming meetings and hand them to any committee member.

If we all put in just a few lots we can make this an enjoyable and successful evening.

• London Coin Fair Holiday Inn, Bloomsbury, Russel Square - 10th November
• Bonhams auction - 16th October
• Midland Coin Fair, National Motorcycle museum - 14th October
• London Coins Auction Bracknell - 2/3rd December

Ten years ago Alistair McKay spoke on “Roman Reverses and their Meaning”.

Twenty years ago David Pottinger gave an impromptu talk on “Canal History on Tokens” after the scheduled speaker was unable to turn up.

Thirty years ago S.R.D. Leggett spoke on “Contemporary World Coinage”