The present work contains thirty-three articles of the authors on some unique, interesting and significant coins and sigils which throw flashes of light on various aspects of the history, culture, religion, art, economy, trade and commerce, science and technology of the people of India in different periods of its long history. It is for the first time that minuscule copper punch-marked coins from Vidisha have been brought to light which acquaint us of the local economy during the later half of the first millennium BCE. The uniface cast copper coins collected from eastern Malwa and Khandesh region establish relationship of the area with the Deccan which has yielded similar coins.
Coins of the city-state of Hathodaka indicate the role the city-states played in the development of trade and commerce in the Narmada valley during the early centuries before the commencement of the Common Era. The silver and copper coins from Eran-Ujjayini region indicate the continued use of the white metal and corroborate the popularity of Vaishnavism in central India evidenced earlier by the discovery of an elliptical temple plan and the Garuda-dhvaja pillar inscription at Vidisha. The indigenous gold coin confirms the use of this valuable metal for indigenous coinage before the Kushanas. |
