Noble Numismatics Pty Ltd
Auction 127 30 Aug - 2 Sep 2021
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CEYLON (SRI LANKA), Period of the Chola Invasion, (c.990-1070), gold Kahavanu, 20mm, (4.35 g), obv. King reclining right, holding annulet, rev. King standing facing, head right, holding globule; altar, flames, conch, pellets, and lotus around, (Mitchiner, Non-Islamic 825; Friedberg 1). Good very fine, scarce.
The Ceylonese gold Kahavanu in the name of the "Lord of Sri Lanka" are believed to have been struck starting around 960, and continued through the period of the Chola occupation, with Raja Chola completing the conquest around 1001, and continuing until the expulsion of the Cholas by Vijaya Bahu around 1070. The standard anonymous Kahavanu have stereotyped figures of the king holding a sankh shell and lotus respectively on obverse and reverse. These variant types may have been struck at subsidiary mints around the island, or possibly even on the Indian mainland in Tamilnadu.
The Ceylonese gold Kahavanu in the name of the "Lord of Sri Lanka" are believed to have been struck starting around 960, and continued through the period of the Chola occupation, with Raja Chola completing the conquest around 1001, and continuing until the expulsion of the Cholas by Vijaya Bahu around 1070. The standard anonymous Kahavanu have stereotyped figures of the king holding a sankh shell and lotus respectively on obverse and reverse. These variant types may have been struck at subsidiary mints around the island, or possibly even on the Indian mainland in Tamilnadu.