Numismatic Tales: A talk series by Numismatic Collectors of Assam

Numismatics is formally denoted as a scientific study of coins and currencies of all places and periods. A numismatist is a person who collects, studies, researches, and documents coins and currencies; makes analysis of how currencies were made and used in the past as well the present.

In the talk series “Numismatic Tales” a group of currency collectors of Assam would be speaking on the many perspectives of coins. From historical study of coins to popular subjects , the talk is aimed to provide a understanding of coins, that were in circulation mostly in Assam during the reign of different kings and rulers.

Another interesting topic is the study and identification of Error coins, regarded to be of a purely different category of analysis and collection.

The First Mediaeval Coins in Northeast Indian States

Speaker: Parikhit Phukan

In Medieval period North East Indian States were ruled by many rulers and to show their supremacy and power the rulers of these kingdoms started minting coins in their reign. At the beginning, the minting technology was brought from Bengal Sultanate to Tripura kingdom. In the course of time this technology was spread in different kingdoms in different circumstances. Very unique coinage system was seen in Manipur (sel currency) which was there in tradition before introduction of precious metal coins. Thus, the coinage in North East India existed in different forms since ancient times and proper study of these coin system can depict many facets of ancient and Medieval Indian North East States.

THE COINAGE DURING THE MOAMORIA UPRISING IN ASSAM

Speaker: Priyak Chakraborty

The Moamoria rebellion or uprising in Assam occurred in between 1769 and 1805. This happened in the 18th century that began as power struggle between the Moamorias, on one side and the Ahom kings on the other.
Due to the conflict the Ahom Kingdom lost most of its control and power which paved way to the Burmese Invasion and Colonization by British. There was huge loss of people and resources.

The Coinage during the Rebel Period is an interesting topic to study and research. As a result of the failure of Ahom King to control the territory of the Motok Kings the independent kingdom developed the capacity to mint coins.
The Ahom king lost the Capital City and reclaiming the capital came at a cost of massacre of subjects. The Ahom king failed to re-establish the entire kingdom; a portion in the north-east, Bengmara, became known as Matak Rajya which became an independent area.

During the period of 1791 AD to 1797 AD two powerful leaders of the Rebellion namely Bharat Simha and Sarvvananda Simha controlled the territory with full power and strength and even got the privilege to strike coins in their names. The coinage during this period relates to an interesting timeline between the power share of the Kings in the Motok Rajya or kingdom. The quality of strike, the dates embedded in the coin are interesting touchpoints for study and research.

The Coinage of Rajeshwar Singha

Speaker: Arindom Saikia

The ahom king Rajeshwar Singh struck different forms of coins almost throughout his reign. In addition to the common octagonal shaped coin in Assamese script, he struck coins in Ahom scripts too, during the initial years of his reign. Square shaped coins were also produced during his reign.

He also issued coins in Nagari inscription in 1675 saka and at least two issues with Persian script – a square issue in 1675 saka and an octagonal issue in 1685

My Favourite Error Coins

Speaker: Debojit Das

Error coins are the product of various causes happened during the coin making process like die misalignment or foreign particle present in the surface of the blank or broken die. Error coins are the result of disorientation of the dies, accidents, cracking of the die, condition of the material, extra metal error, hard strike of the die, very soft strike of the die, slippage of the planchet, multiple strike etc. Some errors are easy to find but some are harder to get like disorientation of the die or die rotation errors are hard to find but off-center error coins are very much common.

Some of the most popular and rare coin error to find are: Fundamental die setting error, Pre Date or early release error, Clipped planchet error, Lamination Error, Die rotation or clock error, Brockage, Struck in a wrong planchet, Off-center strike, Broken die or die crack error, Sun burst error, Multiple strike error, Strike through, Blanks, Uniface.

Apart from these, there are some more error coins which are found in bimetallic coins only but the above mentioned errors are also can be found in bimetallic coins.They are : Inner circle off center, Inner circle missing, Outer ring missing.