(sold for $74.0)

1070, Ceylon, Chola Invasion Period. Gold Aka (1/8 Kahavanu) Coin. 0.43gm!

Condition: VF Mint Period: 980/990-1070 AD Denomination: Gold Aka (1/8 Kahavanu = 1/8 Stater) Reference: Friedberg 4, Mitchiner 826 var. (there as a 1/4 Kahavanu = Pala). Diameter: 10mm Material: Gold Weight: 0.43gm

Obverse: Standing King, holding aloft a sankh shell. Altar in to right.

Reverse: Stylized legend of three characters below circle of dots.

The Ceylonese gold in the name of the "Lord of Sri Lanka" is believed to have been struck starting around 960 and continued through the period of the Chola occupation, with Raja Raja Chola completing the conquest around 1001, and continuing until the expulsion of the Cholas by Vijaya Bahu around 1070. The standard anonymous coinage has figures of the king holding a sankh shell and lotus respectively on obverse and reverse. Variant types (see following lot) may have been struck at subsidiary mints around the island, or possibly even on the Indian mainland in Tamilnadu.

Authenticity on all offered coins guaranteed.

The Kingdom of Rajaranta is the name given to the kingdom that ruled the Sri Lanka from northern part of Sri Lanka from approximately the 5th Century BCE to the early 13th Century CE. It was centered around the ancient cities of Tambapanni, Upatissa Nuwara,Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa. Rajarata was under direct administration of the King, other areas (Malaya rata,Ruhunu rata) were ruled by brothers of King called by "Mapa" and "Epa".

The geographical designation Rajarata (Raja = king, rata = country, or preferably area, thus the area of King) is the name given to the region of Sri Lanka from which these monarchs ruled.