Unique Andhra Coins

The Andhra coins are unique among Indian coins in three important aspects. They were the first rulers to issue coins made exclusively of lead since the earliest times and this almost lasted for thousand years. High officials of the ruling dynasty with such titles as Mahatalavara, Maharathi and Mahasenapathi issuing coins was another feature of Andhra rulers. They were one of the first kings in the country to issue coins in their names and Gobhada was the first ruler to issue coins in his name in Andhra. There were many other unique features of Andhra coins which are discussed in the book.

Professor Deme Raja Reddy is a renowned neurosurgeon and numismatist. He has published many books on Andhra coins.

Andhra coins contributed a great deal to the ancient Indian history. First ever article in India about ancient coins was recorded in the second volume of Asiatick Research, which was published by The Asiatic Society of kolkata in the year 1790 AD. This report by Alexander Davidson was about the discovery of a hoard of Roman coins near Nellore in Andhra Pradesh by a peasant in 1786 AD. The coins found belonged to three Republican rulers of Rome namely Hadrianus (117-138 AD), Empress Faustina (138- 161 AD) and Antonius Pius, 161 AD. More than sixty hoards of Roman coins were discovered in south India since then confirming the large maritime trade, which existed between two countries two thousand years ago. Three Satavahana kings of Andhra namely Vasistiputra Pulumavi, Vasistiputra Satakarni and Yajna Satakarni issued ship type of coins which confirm the maritime traditions of that period. Discovery of a large hoard of 1531 Roman silver coins in interior Telangana of Andhra at Akkenapalli village of Nalgonda district in 1945 AD confirmed Roman trade along Musi River in ancient times. This hoard contained 722 coins of Augustus (27-14 AD), 771 of Tiberius (14-37 AD), 2 of Caligula (37-41 AD), 12 of Claudius (41-54 AD) and 2 of Nero (54-68 AD). One could witness the ruins of commercial forts along the rivers of Andhra such as Musi and Godavari and some of these places yielded Roman coins. Next significant discovery was the Singavaram hoard of Andhra janapada coins belonging to 6th-7th century BC in 1934 AD. The concept that there were two types of earliest Indian coins namely local janapada and imperial punch marked coinage evolved from this find of a large hoard of silver coins weighing about 10000 tolas. The Amaravati hoard of 7668 imperial type of punch marked coins in 1953 AD in Andhra was another milestone in Indian numismatics. This hoard contained coins of Magadhan rulers who ruled from Pataliputra in Gangetic valley. They issued coins of national currency and the coins of hoard belonged to periods II-VI of their rule.

These coins of uniform weight standard circulated in all parts of India for many centuries. Surprisingly earliest Indian coins had only symbols and no legend indicating the name of the king. Next important discovery was the Kotalingala coins in 1978 AD that had coins of Gobada who was the first king to put his name on the coins in Andhra. Kotalingala is in Karimnagar district of Telangana that was the first known capital of Andhra kings. The variety of coins found at Kotalingala was staggering and hence this find came to be regarded as another major event in Deccan numismatics. The first major dynasty to rule Andhra was Satavahana and their rule again commenced from Kotalingala. First indigenous Indian king to issue portrait coins in India was again a Satavahana king Gautamiputra and his successors too issued silver portrait coins. A number of Satavahana kings issued coins with a prefix 'Vasistiputra' and these are presented. After the Satavahanas the kings who ruled Andhradesa issued coins over the subsequent centuries. Further discoveries of Andhra coins of such rulers also added greatly to our knowledge of Telugu history. There were other interesting observations such as numismatic information contained in ancient travelogue of Veeraswamiah and an unusual hoard containing coins which were in circulation in Hyderabad over a period of four hundred years. There is a study about the gold coin chains adoring lord Venkatesa. Chalni coins of Asaf Jahi period were unique and also the introduction of 'Hali Sicca' of Hyderabad state in contrast to 'Kaldar Sicca' of British India. Andhra coins spanned over 2700 years and some of these coins were unique in character. This book describes some such unique Andhra coins to highlight their contribution to Andhra history.

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