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Roman

 

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Indo-Roman coins found in Ceylon:

Roman 'Third Brass' coins found in Sri Lanka may be a result of the revival of the great powers through Axumite, Himyarite and Persian middlemen, which coincides with the foundation of Constantipole as the seat of the Roman empire on one hand and the gradual shift of the focus of trade from the South Indian coasts to Ceylon on the other. By the fifth Century A.D. Ceylon conclusively became the main center of trade in the Indian ocean. The coins Roman and Indo Roman coins found in Ceylon of the fourth and fifth century are connected with the with the export of precious items, mainly gems, from Ceylon. 

Roman coins found in Ceylon are

The first closely adheres to the original, with the exception of the lettering, which obviously baffled the native minters.

These are small bronze coins with a figure on the obverse with a legend and the reverse generally depicting 2 or 3 standing soldiers or emperors, and was common coinage in Ceylon from about 364 AD till about the fist half of the 7th Century AD. 

The second type, known as 'Na-imana' after the place where they were first found, are far less skillfully and all of these are thought to be minted in Ceylon, as against in India for the first type, and these are far rarer than the first type.

Sales: As we do not sell from this website, we recommend that you check out the excellent selection of Ceylon material that is generally available with the US based Asian Collectibles Network, we find their quality and service to be excellent.

Ancient Ceylon ] Pandyan ] Pallava ] [ Roman ] Chola ] Setu ] Medieval Gold ] Sinhalese 12 to15 cent ] Portuguese ] Dutch ] Kandyan ] British ] Ceylon 1948 to 72 ] Sri Lanka Republic ] Tokens ] Links ]