Coin and Paper Money Collecting/Expert Profile

Expertise

I can only answer any question regarding Paper Money, coins and Tokens that circulated in Ceylon/Sri Lanka of any era which extends back to 300 BCE. I maintain website coins.lakdiva.org which may help you identify your coin. If Country is any other or unknown, coin should have been found in Sri Lanka. Please Do not ask questions about any coins or currency of other countries including USA. Thank You.

Experience in the area

I maintain since 1998 the largest website on Ceylon/Sri Lankan coins and Tokens with over 600 pages.

Organizations

President Sri Lanka Numismatic Society founded in 1976

Publications

Sunday Times NewsPaper of Sri Lanka. See lakdiva.org/suntimes

Education/Credentials

BSc MS PhD in Physics/Astronomy Diploma in Museology

Awards and Honors

Contributor on Ceylon/Sri Lanka for Krause Standard Catalogs of World Coins and Paper Money.

What do you like about this subject?

Lanka has a written history of over 2500 years and coins have been used over nearly the full period. However being a small nation the total number of coins issued is small enough to study all of them, and create a significant collection. There is also a lot of diversity in the types of Lankan coins.

What do you still hope to achieve/learn in this field?

I started my website coins.lakdiva.org in 1998 to display the ancient history of Lanka on the Internet through Numismatics. I hope to expand my website to show as far as possible a complete collection of Coins, Tokens and Paper Money of Ceylon/Sri Lanka,

Something interesting about this subject that others may not know:

Lanka had a set indigenous coins which are dated back to the 2nd Century BC that all have the "Railed Svastika" on the obverse, as the Royal Insignia for the nation. These coins are not found in India, and the same insignia is seen at the end of ancient Lankan stone inscriptions to represent Royal Authority.

Something controversial or provocative about this subject

I have found in some ancient hoards of both silver and copper, coins which don't have even a trace of punch marks or design on them. These coins appear to be older than the Punch Mark coins which were used in the 3rd century BCE, and may represent the oldest form of coinage in South Asia, and as old as the most ancient Chinese, Greek and Roman coins.