No. 58. 1907.] EARLY COPPER COINS. 



207 



(A) Struck plaques divide into three varieties, which will be 

 dealt with separately. 



(i.) Roughly oblong pieces of thin sheet copper, which 

 measure about 1J" x -JJ-*. These measurements are only 

 approximate, and no two pieces are exactly alike. 



In thickness they vary as much as in size, averaging about 

 •04 of an inch. In weight they are anything from 20 to 60 

 grains. 



As with their weight, size, and thickness, so with the device, 

 which varies frequently in detail, though never departing far 

 from the common type, which is as follows : — 



Obverse. — A standing full-face female figure occupying the 

 whole length of the plaque. This goddess, for such I take her 

 to be, holds in either hand a staff slightly higher than her 

 shoulders and surmounted by some object which may be a 

 trident. On her arms are bangles, and she wears anklets. She 

 also wears conspicuous earrings. Apparently she is draped in 

 a very curt skirt. 



Reverse. — A swastika exactly like that on the coins described 

 above. In most cases the emblem is thus ,^L, but in a few 

 instances jj,. With its staff and rail this swastika occupies 

 the whole length of the reverse. On either side of this is a 

 symbol. On one side a bull recumbent, and on the other a 

 vase or pot containing flowers, probably three conventional- 

 ized lotus buds. As a rule, the bull occupies the left field and 

 the flower pot the right ; but they are often transposed, and 

 not infrequently one or both is reversed and placed upside down. 



The manufacture of these plaques is of the most careless 

 description. Evidently sheet copper was sliced into strips of 

 suitable width, which were then chopped up into pieces small 

 enough to fit the die. 



No single specimen that I have seen was well struck even on 

 one side, and in no instance is the whole of the device clearly 

 visible. That this is not the result of wear may be clearly 

 seen on examination of the edges, which remain so sharp that 

 almost any specimen would cut the skin if drawn sharply across 

 one's finger. The corners, too, are exceedingly sharp in some 

 instances, and are quite unworn in all. 



