Those interested in learning how societies took shape should invariably learn the modes of trade and exchange that existed through the ages. What was originally a barter of goods gradually evolved into the use of coins for goods with a predetermined value. The study of the evolution of coins is essential for reconstructing the socio-economic history of ancient communities. Coins help understand the history of relations between nations and continents. A Numismatics Study Centre was opened in 1980 at Koyikkal Palace in Nedumangad for collecting and researching coins. The undertaking of coin hoards subject to the Kerala Treasure Trove Act (1968) enables us to possess a large variety of coins.
The substantial coin collection in the Department’s possession has come from places like Eyyal, Valluvally, Kottayam, Poonjar, Ankamaly, Payyoli, Nedumkandam, and Vakkom as stashed-away hoards or as isolated chance recoveries. The collections include Roman and Venetian gold coins, besides Kerala’s own Veerakeralapanam, rasi, Veerarayan, and Anantharayanpanam, Puthenpanam, Travancore’s half a chakram, Lakshmi varahan, and Parvathivarahan, the coins of Kochi and Kozhikode suzerains, the Arackal dynasty, Portuguese-India coins, and Dutch coins. Scientific and systematic cataloguing works were done by the Department so as to bring the hoard’s nature, variety, and antiquity of the collection.
In 1979, coin hoards were recovered from Cheramanpetta near Vaniyamkulam in Ottappalam taluk and from Anchukunnu in Wayanad. The Anchukunnu hoard consisted of silver coins with Arabic legends and silver rings, while the Vaniyamkulam treasure consisted of 1363 gold coins, weighing a total of 335 grams. These coins, known as Veerarayanpanams, made in Zamorin’s mint shed light on the trade and exchange patterns that existed in the mid- centuries.
From the very early times, Kerala had commercial intercourse with Rome. Tangible evidence for such contact appears in the form of hoards of Roman coins discovered in various parts of Kerala, viz., Iyyal, Kumbalam, Valluvally and Kottayam.
The largest recovery of Roman gold coins from Kerala so far was from Valluvalli in Paravur taluk of Ernakulam district in 1983. The treasure, consisting of 250 gold coins of 36 different kinds, came to light while breaking ground for farming. The coins bore images of Roman rulers who reigned immediately before and after Christ, indicating the extensive trade relations that existed between Kerala and Rome. Around the same time as the Valluvalli recovery, a hoard of 273 silver coins with punch marks was made in Mala, 14 km north-east of Kodungallore. These coins resembled the coins recovered from Eyyal in Thissur district. These recoveries have been helpful in the ongoing search for the exact location of the ancient port of Muchiri (Muziris).
These hoards begin with the depiction of Tiberius (14–37 C.E.) to Marcus Aurelius’ (161–180C.E.). Among the hoards, the coin issued by Hadrianus (AD 117–138) is praiseworthy. That bears the famous emblem of the she-wolf suckling the twins Romulus and Remus.
Copper coins numbering 2595 found in an earthen pitcher buried within the compound of the Thirupalkadal Sri Krishna Temple at Vellallur in Chirayinkeezhu, were taken over by the Archaeology Department. These were the coins struck by the Travancore Government mint and consisted of the naalukash, ettukash, RV, and chakram coins that were in use in Travancore since 1885.
A treasure chest recovered from Padinjarethara in Wayanad and kept in the Vythiri sub-treasury was taken over by the Department. The treasure consisted mainly of the ornaments and small crowns that adorned the icons in the Jain temple or other monuments in Wayanad. The treasure also contained 189 Veerarayan coins that were used in Kozhikode.
A treasure consisting of 266 silver coins recovered while digging farmland in Mundur, Cheruthazham area of Pariyaram in Kannur, was received on July 9, 2017. The hoard was found enclosed in a copper pitcher. The British colonial-era coins have been in circulation since 1862, with images of Queen Victoria, King Edward VII, and King George V embossed on the coins.
