PERIODICAL: THIRD SIDE OF THE COIN

Marg is an Indian publication founded in 1946 as a forum for pioneering research in Indian art. The latest issue, edited by Joe Cribb, focuses on the non-monetary use of coins, from jewellery, religious offerings, political messaging to contemporary art. -Editor

Coins were first issued in northern India at least as early as the 4th century BC, and their purpose was to make payments. By the end of the 1st century BC, their efficiency caused them to spread to all levels of society and to the rest of India and the surrounding countries. Because of their religious designs and integral value, coins began to hold a unique place in Indian culture, quickly entering spheres other than simple payment--conjuring up mythologies of magical powers and inspiring art. They have been used as religious offerings, royal gifts and as personal ornaments for over two thousand years. And when real coins couldn't be used, imitations of coins began to be used as substitutes from the 1st century AD—whether as copies of Roman coins in southern India or down to today's Diwali gift coins and coin jewellery. Rather than focus on their archaeological or economic value, or use them to determine chronologies of monarchs, this volume explores how coins create, and mobilise, an aura of the sacred and the precious.

Beyond Trade and Transactions: Coins in Caskets, Sculpture, Epigraphy and Rituals
Suchandra Ghosh $2

Roman Coins and Venetian Ducats in India: Repurposed and Reinterpreted
Emilia Smagur $2

The Life Story of a Necklace of Gold Coins, From Venice to India via Egypt
Joe Cribb

Portable Shrines: Imagery and Iconography of Hindu Religious Tokens of India
Garg, Sanjay

Lotus Flowers and Bodhisatvas, Horses and Dragons: Buddhism on Chinese Coin Charms
Alex Chengyu Fang

Bringing Blessings and Good Luck: Coins in Zoroastrian Customs and Culture
Marzbeen Jila

Memorials in Miniature: The Exonumia of the Indian National Movement
Bhandare, Shailendra

Here's an excerpt from Joe's Introduction. -Editor

The Third Side of the Coin
The third side of the coin reveals an unexpected and often hidden part of the history of coins, their use as symbols of religious devotion and as personal ornaments. The designs on the heads and tails of coins were applied to enable them to be used to make and receive payments and will continue to do so until digital technology eventually removes coins from their economic role. But the third face will enable coins to live on as their loss of monetary value does not diminish their symbolic and decorative roles.

This third side is alive and well, even as the coins in our pockets and purses gradually disappear. In August last year the Padmanabhaswamy temple in Kerala announced the offer for sale of gold coins, weighing 1, 2, 4 or 8gr, decorated with images of the temple and its god Lord Padmanabhan. These new coins represent a tradition reaching back over two thousand years of Indian history. The temple itself is a living part of that history as in its vaults are preserved many thousands of gold coins given as offerings to the temple over many centuries. The creation of sacred coins by the temple and its long tradition of receiving gold coins as acts of worship by the temple's devotees illustrate well the Indian tradition of removing coins from their economic function to become symbols of religious devotion.

The origins of the religious power of money and coins
Narratives in ancient Indian texts of money being used to make religious offerings can be found which even pre-date the invention of coinage. In the Veda (I.126.2), and the Mahabharata (7.LXVII) specially designated gold ornaments called nishka were offered to brahmins. The Satapatha Bramana (XIII.2.2–3, XIII.4.1–2) also described similar payments of 100 pieces of gold, called satamana to brahmins when offering sacrifice. Gold being used in payments, i.e. as money, was attested in the Veda where a hundred nishkas was used to pay a dowry (I.125–126) and ten lumps of gold were given as a reward to a poet (VI.47.23). In the Manusmirti nishka were said to have the specific value of four suvarna (a term later used to describe gold coins issued by the Gupta dynasty) and set as the value of fines for breaching agreements and for personal injuries.

Coins were first issued in northern India to make payments by at least the 4th century BC, silver karshapana (punch-marked coins) replacing the earlier use of gold. Their efficiency caused them to spread to all levels of society and to the rest of India and the surrounding countries by the end of the 1 st century BC. Because of their religious designs and integral value, coins became a firm part of Indian culture, quickly entering spheres other than simple payment. Like the gold described in the ancient texts, they were used to make religious offerings, royal gifts and as personal ornaments and have continued to do so for over two thousand years.

The earliest images of coins in Indian art show them being used to make religious offerings. At the Buddhist sites of Bodh Gaya and Bharhut, first century BC reliefs show the Buddha's retreat known as the Jetavana park with its surface covered with coins, because, according to Buddhist legend, the park was acquired by one of the Buddha's followers offering to cover its surface with coins. Another early sculpture from Besnagar shows a sacred tree surrounded by offerings, including pots full of coins. The offering of coins in this way is also recorded in the Buddhist Hatthi Pala Jataka (509.474), which describes a king offering a thousand coins every year to the deity residing in a banyan tree in the hope of having a son. As the vaults of the Padmanabhaswamy temple show the tradition of offering gold coins to the gods continues to the present day.

Another Buddhist story, the Maha-Ummagga Jataka (546.346–7) provides evidence of the use of coins as personal ornaments, describing how a king drilled a hole in a coin and put it on a string to hang around the neck of a chameleon. Many ancient Indian coins, particularly silver coins from western India and imported Roman gold and silver coins, are found with such holes (often in pairs, so that the coin lies flat). In other cases mounts were soldered onto the edge of the coin so they could be worn in necklaces. This practice was more prevalent in northern India where Kushan and Gupta gold coins were treated in this way. The ornamental use of coins could also be part of the ritual of making offerings, as described in the Linga Purana (38.1–5), which specifies that cows being offered to Shiva should have gold coins hanging around their necks.

"The Magazine is brimming over with colour images of coins, coin-like religious and good luck charms, coin jewellery and modern coin art."

For more information, or to order, see:
The Third Side of the Coin (https://marg-art.org/product/UHJvZHVjdDo1NTMx)

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