1863. | Memorandum on some medals and coins. 271 
Memorandum on some medals and coins in the Museum of the Asiatic 
Society, found near Mergui on the Tenasserun Coast.—By Lneut.- 
Col. A. P. Puarre, C. B., Bengal Staff Corps. 
The coins or medals found near Mergui and presented to the So- 
ciety by Professor Oldham, have nothing to indicate the year when 
they were cast. Their metal appears to be a mixture of tin and lead. 
Tin is found in plenty in that part of the country. Possibly some 
of them may have been made for circulation as money, but that is 
doubtful. It has never as a general rule been usual to coin money 
in the Burmese empire for currency. When Arakan was conquered 
in 1784 A. D. the Burmese Governors issued a coin in imitation of 
the custom observed by the Kings of Arakan, who again had learnt 
the practice from the Mahomedan Kings and Governors of Bengal.* 
It is possible that on the Tenasserim coast within the present dis- 
tricts of Tavoy and Mergui, where tin is found, coins may have been 
made for general use, more especially as those districts have occasion- 
ally belonged to the Siamese, who have copper coins and formerly 
even stamped glass. It appears to be the opinion of the people of 
the coast also, that these coins were formerly used as money and as 
weights. As, however, the large medals, numbers one to six of the 
plate, contain religious symbols, the fact of their common circulation 
is doubted by many inhabitants of the northern portion of Burmah 
whom I have consulted regarding them. It is more probable that 
they were made for the purpose of being deposited in Pagodas. 
There are sixteen large coins in good preservation, which contain 
only three different varieties. Of the smaller coins only six are 
sufficiently preserved to be described. None of them contain any 
date nor any king’s name. ‘They are probably recent, that is coined 
within the last hundred years. I shall now proceed to describe those 
coins of the collection which are figured on the accompanying plates 
the exact size of the originals :— 
No. 1.—Obverse.—The figure of a fabulous animal in the Burmese 
mythology called 082 T6 or pO0ds naya a compound of flying 
horse and deer. 
teverse.—An inscription in the Pali language, Burmese character 
as follows : 
* See Journal of Asiatic Society, Vol. XV. p. 232. 
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