The E-Sylum:  Volume 7, Number 36, September 5, 2004, Article 8

THUGEE AND OTHER COINS OF DEATH

  At the Numismatics International meeting at the recent
  ANA convention, the topic of the heavy Russian 5
  Kopeck coins came up, and someone recalled an
  incident where an angry woman threw one of the coins
  across the room at her husband.  She was a good shot -
  it hit him in the head and killed him.

  So in true E-Sylum tradition, I've got to ask - are there
  any other instances of coins used to kill?  The only one
  I can think of is the old Indian method of thugee.  Here's
  a description I found on the web:  "Thugee - A Historical
  Perspective by Rakesh Chaubey.

  Thugee used to be a big problem during the British Raj.
  It went largely unnoticed for centuries because it was not
  only a crime perpetrated on Indians by Indians, but it was
  a crime perpetrated by rogues on elderly who were making
  their final pilgrimage to Varanasi.

  Devout followers of Goddess Kali, the thugs were a highly
  superstitious bunch. They spent part of the year living as
  farmers and for a few months disappeared from home to
  go on their plunderous mission. Thugee was widespread
  all throughout Northern India. The Thugs used to travel in
  groups of five or six persons and would join into a group
  of travelers. "

  "The thugs would penetrate a group disguised as travelers.
  They gained the confidence of the other travelers. Amongst
  themselves, the Thugs communicated in a very elaborately
  coded lexicon. Finally, when they had gained the confidence
  of their intended target, one of them lured him away some
  distance away from where the group was camped. There
  the other thugs met up and strangled the man using a scarf
  in which a silver rupee coin had been rolled.  The victims
  were then robbed, and their bodies buried in shallow graves."

  Full Story

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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