Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
1 billon coin 'Jambi Lion'
| Issuer | Melayu Kingdom (Indonesian States) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1000-1350 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Hammered |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | A stylized lion depicted in profile occupies the central field of this crudely struck hammered billon piece, rendered in the bold, schematic artistic tradition characteristic of medieval Sumatran coinage. The feline figure is shown in a walking or rearing posture, with a pronounced mane and exaggerated musculature typical of the Jambi Lion series. The design is executed in high relief against a rough, uneven field, reflecting the primitive hammering technique employed. Subsidiary decorative or symbolic elements appear in the upper field. The overall composition is contained within the irregular flan with no formal border or legend. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | ND (1000-1350) - Lion left, bust left - ND (1000-1350) - Lion left, bust right - ND (1000-1350) - Lion right, bust left - ND (1000-1350) - Lion right, bust right - |
| Additional information |
The Melayu Kingdom, centered on the Batang Hari river basin in what is now Jambi province, controlled a stretch of Sumatra's interior trade networks that connected pepper and gold-producing highlands to coastal entrepôts feeding the broader Indian Ocean exchange. Billon coinage of this type reflects a monetary pragmatism common to Sumatran polities of the period — silver diluted with copper to extend supply without abandoning metallic currency altogether.
The "Jambi Lion" designation is a modern cataloging convenience. Attribution to Melayu rather than neighboring Srivijayan or Malay successor states remains debated among specialists, and the three-and-a-half century date range assigned to this type signals exactly how unresolved the chronology is.