Maneless Lion Type
Ancient Lanka - Mahasena : 277 - 304

SPECIFICATIONS Alloy Cu Type Cast ? Diameter 16.5/18.2 mm Thickness  mm Weight 1.78 gms Shape 0.9 elliptical DieAxis O°
Alloy Cu Type Cast ? Diameter 16.6 mm Thickness  mm Weight 1.45 gms Shape round DieAxis O°
		Mitchiner #
Alloy Cu Type Cast ? Width 16.0 mm Height 14.5 mm Thickness 1.1 mm Weight 1.06 gms Shape rectangular DieAxis 0°
		Mitchiner #

Obverse : In line circle maneless Lion standing right. Left in lower specimen
Reverse : Similar line circle with four dots disposed in a cross.

This type of coin has been found in the interior of the Jetavanarama Dagoba in Anuradhapura built by King Mahasena ( CE 277-304) and therefore known to have been in use during his reign. They could not be of much later date since not long afterwards Roman "third brass" flooded the coins in circulation in Lanka.

The upper two coins were scanned at 300 dpi and displayed at 300 dpi. The elliptical coin was purchased in Dec 1999 from a reputed dealer in Galle, Lanka. The round coin was obtained in Aug 2000 from Rajah Wickremesinhe an Author and collector in Colombo, Lanka. He had purchased it in 1984 from a shop in Ampara.
The lower coin was scanned at 600 dpi and displayed at 300 dpi. This coin is from part of Lalith Raddella's collection I purchased in 2016 December.

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The meaning of the 4 dots also seen on some Dutch dumps has intrigued me. It looks so much like a Gravitational lensed Quad image as on right :-) A realistic origin is probably the degeneration of the figure on Lakshmi plaque coin.

HST:14176+5226

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* Ceylon Coins and Currency By H. W. Codrington. Colombo 1924
  Page 25 Chapter III Maneless Lion Type - Pl 19
* Ruhuna. An Ancient Civilisation Re-visited by Bopearachchi and Wickramasinhe. 1999
  Page 28 Local coins - Maneless Lion - Pl H.27 to H.29.