JOURNAL 



OF THE 



ASIATIC SOCIETY 



No. V.— 1851. 



Remarks on some lately-discovered Roman Gold Coins. By Capt. 

 Drury, communicated by General Cullen, H. C. Resident, Tra- 

 vancore, through the Hon'ble W. Elliott. 



A most interesting discovery of a large quantity of Ancient Roman 

 Gold Coins has lately been made in the neighbourhood of Cannanore 

 on the Malabar Coast, not only remarkable for the numbers found 

 (amounting to some hundreds) but also for their wonderful state of 

 preservation. Many appear almost as fresh as on the day they were 

 struck : the outline of the figures is so sharp and distinct, and the 

 inscriptions so clear and legible. With very few exceptions they are 

 all of gold, and of the age of Imperial Rome from Augustus down- 

 wards ; several of them being coeval with the earliest days of the 

 Christian era. From what we have been able to learn regarding their 

 first appearance, it seems that a few were brought into the town of 

 Calicut and offered for sale in the Bazaar by some poor natives who 

 naturally supposing from their shining appearance that they were 

 worth perhaps some trifle, gladly bartered them away for a day's feed 

 of rice. The Coins however speedily found their way among those 

 who were not long in estimating their real value, and the natives find- 

 ing that some importance was attached to the glittering metal began 

 to rise in their demands, and at length sold them for one, five, ten and 

 subsequently for fourteen rupees the coin. The purity of the gold 

 especially attracted the notice of the Jewellers and the wealthier natives, 



No. XLVIII.— New Series. 3 c 



