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Æ Unit - Elephant and Bull Right facing; Ceylon Issue
| Issuer | Pallava dynasty (Southern India) |
|---|---|
| Year | 275-800 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Orientation | Variable alignment ↺ |
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| Obverse description | Elephant depicted in right profile, rendered in a bold, archaic style characteristic of early South Asian coinage. A conch shell symbol occupies the upper field above the animal's back, while a stylised plant or branch device appears in the lower field. The flan is irregular and the design elements are arranged within an unbordered field typical of hammered copper issues of the Pallava period. |
|---|---|
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| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
The Pallava dynasty's copper issues circulated across a trading zone that extended well beyond the Indian subcontinent — Tamil merchants carried them into Ceylon and throughout Southeast Asia along routes that predated any formal colonial infrastructure by centuries. Whether this piece was struck in Ceylon or simply traded there remains a point of genuine debate among specialists, and the "Ceylon Issue" attribution reflects distribution evidence more than confirmed mint provenance.