Catalog
1/4 Unit Halin
| Issuer | City of Halin (Pyu city-states) |
|---|---|
| Year | 400-600 |
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| Composition | Silver (.960) |
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| Obverse description | Central device depicting a rising sun motif with radiating rays — either four or five in number depending on variety — rising above a horizontal baseline or ground line, rendered in low relief. The sun and rays are enclosed within a plain inner circle, itself surrounded by a broad border of evenly spaced raised pellets arranged around the full circumference of the flan. The overall composition is bold and stylized, characteristic of Pyu coinage from the Halin city-state, with no inscriptions or legends present in the field. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Central field bearing a humped bull (Zebu) depicted in profile facing left, rendered in a fluid, stylized manner consistent with Pyu artistic conventions of the early medieval period. The animal's body is delineated by sweeping curved lines with a prominent dorsal hump and scattered pellet ornaments distributed across the field. The design is enclosed within a linear inner border, with additional decorative linear elements near the periphery of the irregular flan. No inscriptions or legends are present. |
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| Additional information |
The Pyu city-states of upper Burma operated as commercially sophisticated polities well before Burman migrations reshaped the region, and Halin — the northernmost of the major Pyu centers — issued coinage tied to a weight standard traceable to early Indian reckoning. The quarter-unit designation places this piece within a fractional system designed for small-scale market exchange, not tribute or ceremonial use. Halin fell into decline sometime after the 9th century, likely accelerated by Nanzhao raids from Yunnan documented in Tang Chinese sources around 832 AD.