No. 58.— 1907.] 



ROMAN COINS. 



165 



those found in Ceylon, and which, for several reasons, he 

 decides, were minted in India to meet local requirements. 



After examining over two thousand copper Roman coins 

 found in Ceylon, I am convinced that our coins are true Roman, 

 and not coined either in Ceylon or India, with the exception of 

 the Naimana find and of a very few other specimens. I give 

 a few extracts from Captain Tufnell's book, and at the same 

 time attempt to show clearly where the Ceylon finds differ. 

 But throughout this comparison it must be understood that 

 the Naimana find is excepted, and will be dealt with separately. 



Of course I do not for a moment presume to criticise Capt. 

 Tufnell's conclusions regarding the coins he found in India ; in 

 fact, when describing the Naimana find, I hope to strengthen 

 them ; but I wish to show that the great majority of the Ceylon 

 specimens, although in some respects similar, yet differ funda- 

 mentally from those described in k ' Hints to Coin Collectors " :— 



Capt. TufnelVs Coins, 

 (a) " For the following rea- 

 sons I incline to the opinion 

 that they were struck on the 

 spot, and were not importations 

 from Rome. In the first place, 

 during a recent visit to Madura 

 and the surrounding villages 

 in quest of specimens, I came 

 across no less than seven of 

 these coins, Roman beyond any 

 doubt, but of a type which 

 appears to me to be totally 

 distinct from that found in 

 Europe." 



(/3) " Moreover, they are not 

 the kind of money that one 

 would expect the rich Roman 

 merchant to bring." 



(y) " That they are found 

 almost exclusively in one lo- 

 cality." 



Ceylon- found Coins, 

 (a) Among many hundreds 

 of specimens examined, I have 

 found that 99 per cent, of coins 

 that are sufficiently legible to 

 be made out clearly either on 

 obverse or reverse are of one or 

 other of the types described 

 in standard books on Roman 

 coins. 



((3) As I have already attempt- 

 ed to show, it is by no means 

 impossible that a large number 

 of gold and silver coins may 

 have been current and have 

 afterwards disappeared. 



(y) A glance at my map will 

 show that Roman coins have 

 been found over half Ceylon. 



