406 
JOURNAL, R.A.S. (CEYLON). [YOL. XYIII. 
H. E. the Governor : Has s>ny member any observation to make 
on this Paper ? 
Mr. C. M. Fernando said that in view of the other two Papers 
yet to be read he would say only a few words. The Paper was the 
resumption of a subject which had for some time been forgotten. 
Since Mr. Rhys Davids wrote his article on the Coins of Ceylon for 
the Numismata Orientalia " very little, if anything, has been 
done. 
The Paper suggested that coins bearing the same name did 
not necessarily belong to one king, but might be the coins of different 
kings of the same name. They had exactly the same difficulty with 
the gold Lankesvara coins. They had several different types in the 
Museum, and there were more he believed. They had been attributed 
by Prinsep and Rhys Davids to Parakrama Bahu the Great ; but 
from the difference apparent in the character of the letters he thought 
that they might be coins of successive rulers, who all called them- 
selves " Lord of La^ka. " 
It seemed to him the point of view from which to examine these 
coins was not exactly that from which Mr. Still had mainly approached 
them, namely, measurement and weight. They knew that the renter 
of the Red Sea Revenues of the Emperor of Rome was cast adrift 
on the Island of Ceylon in the reign of Claudius. He visited 
Anuradhapura, and what struck the King of Ceylon most was that 
the Roman coins then shown to him were of uniform weight, and, 
unlike in this respect to his own coins. Roman coins were still found 
in treasure trove. He did not think weight was the proper test 
whether a coin of Ceylon belonged to one king or another. The 
proper test was the test of palaeography. They were in the happy 
position, from the possession of inscriptions of various periods, of being 
able to trace old characters and their development from their Asoka 
stage up to the present time. 
Mr. Fernando then indicated several differences in the appearance 
and devices on the coins, and concluded by remarking that he threw 
these suggestions out because he considered that there was plenty of 
scope for numismatic research in Ceylon. 
H. E. the Governor : I am not a numismatist myself. Am I to 
understand that the legend on the coin would be in the characters 
of the time ? 
Mr. Fernando : Not in Sinhalese characters. They are in what 
is called Nagari character. 
H. E. the Governor : I gather that there were certain characters 
for certain periods. Is it possible that the same characters on coins 
might be found in the inscriptions at cotemporary ruins ? 
Mr. Fernando|: I think not. The Sinhalese Kings used Nagari 
characters on their coins. Sinhalese coins had always on them, so far 
as I know, Nagari characters. 
H. E. the Governor : But Nagari characters in that particular 
stage of their development ? 
Mr. Fernando : Yes. Just as we in the British Empire have the 
Latin language, they used the classical language of the time. 
