No. 56—1905.] SINHALESE COPPER MASSAS. 401 
But if the coins can be attributed to Vijaya Bahu III., 
1236-1240, or Vijaya Bahu IV., 1275-1277, they will then 
take their place between Bhuvaneka Bahu I., and all the rest. 
This is of course conjecture, but it does not seem improb- 
able. 
An additional point in favour of this arrangement is that 
it gives Parakrama Bahu the Great the credit of having 
introduced this style of coinage into Ceylon. 
Below the six varieties will be found dealt with separate- 
ly, in chronological order, on the assumption that Vijaya 
Bahu is the third or fourth of that name. 
The numbers in brackets following on, or accompanying 
the description, refer, if Roman, to series, if Arabic, to indi- 
vidual coins in the accompanying illustrations. 
Parakrama Bahu, 
Surnamed the Great, 1164-1197 a.d. 
Number of coins examined ... 200 
Average weight ... ... 420 milligrammes 
Average diameter ... ... 19*44 millimetres 
General characteristics. — These coins vary very little, and 
such variations as there are either are such as might be 
caused by the die becoming clogged or are unimportant in 
character. They are very uniform in the proportions of the 
figures, which have usually the correct number of fingers on 
their hands. 
The corrosion is a rather light green. 
The legend is Sri'Pa'rd'kra-ma'Bd-hu. 
Variations. — The horizontal stroke on the left side of 
the rd is sometimes sloped upwards from the foot of the 
perpendicular stroke [1], and sometimes at right angles to 
the perpendicular stroke, starting from its centre [2]. 
The ma is written Bd in seven specimens [3], but in 193 
specimens it is correctly ma [4]. This may be caused by 
an old die. 
