42 
HINTS TO COIN-COLLECTORS 
particular time to fix the exact boundaries of their respec- 
tive territories, but also causes considerable uncertainty in 
tbe identity of a large number of tbeir coins. "WTien tbe 
Pandyans conquered, tbey appear to have retained their fish, 
adding thereto the Chola emblem ; and when the Cholas 
were victorious, they returned the compliment — a custom 
which extended down even to the times of the Mahomedan 
power in Mysore, where we find Hyder, that most bigoted 
of Musalmans, retaining a Hindu reverse to his fanams and 
pagodas, while his own initial adorned the obverse. Thus 
in No. 8 we have a coin ' which bears the name of Raja 
Eaja with the usual Chola emblem, but instead of the five 
dots common to most coins of the type, we here find the 
Pandyan fish. Then again in No. 18 we have a coin which, 
while it bears the name of Sundara Pandya (" Pandya the 
Beautiful," possibly a title of the Pandyan monarchs gener- 
ally and not the name of any particular king), has on the 
obverse the standing figure of the Cholas. In No. 10 again, 
we find a boar, the emblem of the Chalukyan dynasty, in 
combination with the two fish and sceptre of the Pandyans.* 
While then we can with comparative safety lay down the 
axiom that where the fish occurs, the Pandyan has something 
to do with it, and that the tiger or standing figure proves 
that when the coin was struck the Chola had a finger in the 
pie, in the absence of any distinct legend it is impossible to 
■place each issue exactly- To enter at all deeply into the 
numerous combinations that are constantly being brought to 
light would cany me far beyond the limits of this paper ; 
but I cannot help here again expressing the hope that ere 
■ It is only within the last few weeks that this coin has heen hrought to 
light, and, as far as I can ascertain, only two specimens of it have as yet 
been found. 
^ Apropos of this coin it may he interesting to note that Kajendra Chola, 
"who suhdued the Pandyans, is supposed by some to be a descendant of the 
iChaluk3'ans. 
