PUNCH MARKED COINS MINTED IN SRI LANKA.


How to identify the PMC’s or Silver Kahapanas minted in Sri Lanka?.

From the views of those who examined the Moulds , it is now believed that PMC’s from India was pressed on to the soft clay while producing the moulds. R Walberg identifies those coins minted from the moulds found  here from the profile of the product that would come out of such a mould. This differs from the original coins which show the typical cut edges  according to R Walberg. He states that the coins off these moulds , is “rather the smooth rounded  edge of a casting from i.e one sided mould.This becomes evident from the fact that one side of the coin is absolutely flat while the other side is slightly convex”. In fact he has shown pictures of two such coins in his book- Coins and Token from Ancient Ceylon , 2008.

These two coins were found at Tissamaharama where the moulds of Raja Wickremasinghe was found. The strata in which these coins were found is dated to 3 Cent AD.

a.