2016-10-21 Fri

A salient stone expert Sugavana Murugan discovered a rare coin issued by the 17th-century king Chenappanayak who is considered to be the first polygar of Salem. He was conducting an inspection of the water bodies near Dharmapuri six months back when he discovered the coin. He refused to sell it even though many offered him a handsome amount.

He researched about the coin and also submitted a paper. Ancient coins are in high demand on many online platforms. Many collectors post pictures on social networking sites to sell them. In 1972, The Antiquities and Art Treasures Act was passed to prevent smuggling of antique pieces. Senior former ASI superintending archaeologist T Sathyamurthy said that the sale 100 plus year old coins was included in the Act, but was later removed as it was practically impossible to control the sale of ancient coins. Numerous ancient coins are collected from various parts of the country. Finally it was declared that only exporting ancient coins was considered to be illegal.

Some experts also revealed that there is a big lobby that is involved in selling ancient coins in TN. They buy these coins from poor farmers who collect them from river beds after monsoons. These coins are then sold at a very high price to collectors.

Sathyamurthy said ancient coins from Sangam age should be registered as pieces of antiquity as it is very important to preserve them for studying various aspects of our history.

Read more about ancient coins of Tamil Nadu: Titles and Chola Coins!