36 
HINTS TO COIN-COLLECTORS 
whatever the village contains will be at your mercy, and a 
prize thus gained is a prize indeed. 
But however difficult the procuring old coins may he, the 
identification is doubly so at first, and yet with a little prac- 
tice it is wonderful how soon one can pick out the choicest 
morsels from a chatty-full of rubbish. Grold coins down 
here are now so rare that (with the exception of an occasional 
interloper) one can pretty easily remember them all ; while 
silver pieces, prior to the issues of the East India Company, 
and excepting an occasional " punch-marked " Buddhist, may 
be said to be practically non-existent. Of copper, thousands 
of thousands are found, and it is to these that we must turn 
our attention chiefly. And perhaps a word or two here 
about the sizes and weights of these coins may not be out of 
place. The Chola and Pandyan issues appear to have been 
struck in three sizes, the largest and smallest of which are 
found both in copper and gold, while the medium size has 
only been found in the former metal. The largest is just 
about the size of a four-anna piece, the medium sKghtly 
more than half this and the smallest, in copper, only just 
large enough to receive one letter of the inscription, though 
slightly larger in gold. The average weights are, approxi- 
mately, in gold 68 and 7| to 8 grains, and in copper 60, 
24 and 9 grains, respectively. 
Mahomedan issues (chiefly Pathan) which occur in con- 
siderable numbers — having wandered down south either in 
course of trade, in the scrips of pilgrims, or brought by the 
conquering hordes of the north — are in nipees and mohurs, 
each of approximately the same weight and averaging gener- 
ally from 160 to 170 grains, while the copper issues, usually 
more or less alloyed with silver, vary very considerably. The 
Hindu pagoda and fanam are both of gold, the former, 
usually almost a spherical coin, and weighing about 52 
grains, the latter a small thin piece rai-ely reaching 6 grains. 
The early French issues struck in Southern India are of two 
