Background

The pre-modern history of indigenous coinage in mainland Southeast Asian remains unclear due to the paucity of sources documenting its use or production and, until recently, both the undertaking and publication of methodical excavations in areas where coins have been found (Wicks Reference Wicks1992a; Aung Reference Aung2014; Hudson Reference Hudson2024). Moreover, debate persists as to whether coin production was linked to any centralised polity or polities, and discussions on the origins and earliest dates of coin production are ongoing (e.g. Mahlo Reference Mahlo2012: 12–14). Local coinage is thought to have emerged in Southeast Asia around the fourth century AD, but coins from India, Rome, Persia and Central Asia were likely imported as early as the second century BC, often as replicable symbols of value or prestige (Borell et al. Reference Borell, Revire and Murphy2014).

The ninth-century Man Shu (‘Book of the Barbarians’) of the Kingdom of Nanzhao (Yunnan) records that “[Piao] country uses silver coinage” in their transactions (Wicks Reference Wicks1992a: 115). While no definitive minting sites have been identified in Myanmar (Mahlo Reference Mahlo2012: 11–13), numerous find sites have been recorded along the coast of the Gulf of Martaban and the northern Irrawaddy River and its tributaries in the Sagaing region (Figure 2) (Htun Reference Htun2007). In turn, positive comparison of lead isotopes from silver-rich lead slags in the Bawzaing region of western Myanmar’s Shan Hills with isotope readings from coins found in Myanmar and Thailand identifies this region as a primary source of silver for coin production (Di Crocco Reference Di Crocco1992). Chemical analyses reveal a typical silver purity for these coins of 80–90 per cent, in some cases as high as 99.7 per cent (Mitchiner & Pollard Reference Mitchiner and Pollard1990; Wicks Reference Wicks1992a: 114).

Figure 2.

Known Rising Sun/Srivatsa coin find sites across Southeast Asia (figure by authors using information from Htun Reference Htun2007; Mahlo Reference Mahlo2012; Epinal Reference Epinal2014; FAD n.d.).

Rising Sun/Srivatsa coins are one of several coin types originating from the area of Myanmar. Gutman (Reference Gutman1978: 8) suggests that each coin developed in this region was conceived similarly to contemporaneous South Asian coins, in that the obverse face was ‘political’, or emblematic of the state, while the reverse face was cosmological; this led early scholars to consider these coins as religious medallions. The earliest Southeast Asian silver coins are thought to have been produced in the Pegu region of the Gulf of Martaban at some point after the fourth century AD and feature an obverse image of a conch shell (sankha)—symbolising royal authority, dhamma (the eternal nature of reality and existence according to Hindu and Buddhist doctrines) and divine protection under various Hindu deities including Vishnu—with a Srivatsa on the reverse (see Goyal Reference Goyal1995: 123; Wicks Reference Wicks2024). Beyond southern Myanmar, conch/Srivatsa coins are found as trade imports and local imitations in Thailand and southern Vietnam (Mitchiner Reference Mitchiner1998).

While other silver coins, such as those struck with bhadrapittha (auspicious seat)/Srivatsa images, also appear in archaeological assemblages from this period (Htun Reference Htun2007: 82–83), no other early Southeast Asian coinage exhibits as widespread a distribution as those bearing Rising Sun/Srivatsa motifs. These coins share a relatively consistent configuration, with the obverse featuring a semi-circular ‘Rising Sun’ with 12 rays encircled by a border of 27 beads, a design inspired by Vedic astrology (Epinal Reference Epinal2014: 98). The reverse Srivatsa, meanwhile, is flanked left by a swastika and right by a smaller bhadrapittha, both below a circular or crescent moon and a four- to eight-rayed sun. It is likely that the image of the Rising Sun refers to a supreme title for a monarch, dynasty or realm (Mahlo Reference Mahlo2012: 15); the AD 1796 Burmese Glass Palace Chronicle notes the presence of a ‘Sun Dynasty’ in early northern Myanmar (Tin & Luce Reference Tin and Luce1923: 6–7), and it is thus possible that this image was conceived as a propagandistic icon of royalty.

Idealised full-unit Rising Sun/Srivatsa coins (‘Type 8a’: Mahlo Reference Mahlo2012: 33; or ‘Class A’: Wicks Reference Wicks1985) typically measure 28–35mm in diameter and weigh 9.2–9.4g, or 80 Ratti—a unit derived from ancient Indian measurements using gunja seeds (Rhodes & Ratnagar Reference Rhodes and Ratnagar1977: 104; Wicks Reference Wicks1992a: 118) (Figure 1, 1 & 2). Later regional and temporal variations (Figure 1, 3–10) are considered technical downgrades or local imitations, often featuring ‘errors’ in the designs (Mahlo Reference Mahlo2012: 33–45). As such, we argue through this study that detailed analyses of coins based on archaeological find sites should complement and refine existing stylistic analyses and typologies, clarifying the economic processes behind the production and distribution of each coin type and subtype (see Wicks Reference Wicks2024). For instance, smaller denominations found alongside full-unit coins, which are comparatively under evaluated, provide valuable insights into regional perceptions of wealth, exchange and power; Wicks (Reference Wicks1992a: 162), for instance, notes a soft divide on either side of the Malay Peninsula between practices of coin fractioning (half-, quarter-, eighth-, 12th- & 16th-cut coins) and minting of smaller denominations (typically 20, 10 & 8 Ratti).

Figure 3.

Map of die matched coins discussed in this study, labelled based on their exact find sites when known or relative find areas/current museum locations. See Table 1 for info (figure by authors).

Data collection/die study methods

While Rising Sun/Srivatsa coins are now typically associated with the site of Halin (Htun Reference Htun2007; Mahlo Reference Mahlo2012), contemporary coins of various subtypes, often locally reproduced, have been found across a remarkably broad area in mainland Southeast Asia. The highest concentrations outside Myanmar, however, come from sites on the opposite side of the Thai-Malay Peninsula, connected by river systems or situated directly along the Gulf of Thailand. Mahlo (Reference Mahlo2012: 12–13) notes that historical interpretations of these coins have been fragmented by colonial and post-colonial spheres of influence, and consequently these coins have rarely been analysed as an integrated artefactual dataset, with scholars often associating them with specific cultural-historical groups aligned with modern nation-state boundaries. For example, Rising Sun/Srivatsa coins discovered in Myanmar are often classified as ‘Pyu’/‘Pyu-Mon’, while similar coins in Cambodia and Vietnam are termed ‘Funan’ (Malleret Reference Malleret1959–1963; Vickery Reference Vickery2003). Thai scholarship also previously used ‘Funan’ (Krisadaolarn & Mihailovs Reference Krisadaolarn and Mihailovs2012) but now prefers ‘Dvaravati’, a term that reflects the sixth–eleventh-centuries Indianised Buddhist material culture of central-eastern Thailand where, alongside locally minted coins and inscribed medallions, these coins are typically found (see Murphy Reference Murphy2013; Revire Reference Revire2016). This diverse set of classifications emphasises the need for a more unified approach to studying Rising Sun/Srivatsa coinage as part of a broader, premodern economic and cultural network.

In addressing this shortcoming, our dataset assesses Rising Sun/Srivatsa coins as part of a cohesive artefactual record, comprising obverse and reverse images of full-unit specimens primarily from Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand. These are either individual finds or derive from buried hoards numbering between three and 2000 coins (Mahlo Reference Mahlo2012; Epinal Reference Epinal2014: 108). Most of these coins are held in museum collections in their respective country of discovery (Malleret Reference Malleret1959–1963; Epinal Reference Epinal2014; Onwimol Reference Onwimol2018; Galloway Reference Galloway2022), while a small number are currently in the collection of the British Museum (see Mitchiner Reference Mitchiner1998: 105–106).

Data collection was undertaken between September 2022 and December 2023, compiling a comprehensive dataset of 1022 Rising Sun/Srivatsa coins of varying sizes, fractions and states of preservation. Coins were photographed, measured and inventoried with an RS number (‘Rising Sun’, e.g. RS0001) that may be cross-referenced with each participating museum’s original identification numbers. Only full-unit coins of secure provenance or museum origin are included in this study (see Table S2 in online supplementary material (OSM)), ensuring consistency with best archaeological practices and reducing our dataset to 245 coins (243 obverse/241 reverse photographs). As the current situation in Myanmar almost entirely restricts access to coins in previously published museum collections (see below), coins from find sites in this region of Southeast Asia are under-represented in the dataset.

Through macroscopic analysis, we visually identified 10 obverse and seven reverse die matches among the 245-coin dataset. This suggests that reverse dies were exhausted more frequently, as seen in Roman contexts (Natarajan et al. Reference Natarajan2023). These matches account for 86/245 total coins, or 35.1 per cent of all assessed coins. However, 67 coins (27.3%) from the Konlah Lan hoard in Angkor Borei come from a single die pair (O1/R1) (referenced as ‘Die 1’ in Harris et al. Reference Harris, Cremaschi, Lim, De Iorio and Kwa2024), while 19 within the dataset (7.76%), found in diverse locations, originate from other dies, mostly in single pairs (Figure 3). Three struck die links were found between two coins (O6 & R6), also from Angkor Borei (Harris et al. Reference Harris, Cremaschi, Lim, De Iorio and Kwa2024: 1033). Table 1 illustrates the obverse/reverse die matches and provenances.

Table 1.

Table of die matches from study.

Table 2.

Summary of results from dataset.

Leveraging die studies to combat looting and preserve cultural heritage

In creating the dataset analysed in this article, a preliminary survey of the available corpus of Rising Sun/Srivatsa coin images revealed a large number of die matches among unprovenanced specimens. These coins were primarily found listed in online auction databases (e.g. acsearch.info & numisbids.com) and on informal collector forums such as the Oriental Coins Database (zeno.ru), while others were published in private collections with academic collaboration from local and international experts (Mitchiner Reference Mitchiner1998; Krisadaolarn & Mihailovs Reference Krisadaolarn and Mihailovs2012; Mahlo Reference Mahlo2012). Where provenance is lacking, object biographies (see Gosden & Marshall Reference Gosden and Marshall1999) are often constructed based on stylistic classification and anecdotal narratives rather than verifiable documentation.

The widespread circulation of unprovenanced early Southeast Asian silver coins highlights the broader issue of the illicit antiquities trade. This raises significant ethical concerns, as the loss of contextual and historical data from such artefacts is irreversible and severely undermines both the reliability of future historical reconstructions and the integrity of historical sites (Brodie Reference Brodie and Hoffman2006: 52). In countries such as Myanmar, where conflict has persisted for more than half a century, the opportunistic looting of antiquities serves as a critical source of sustenance amid economic instability; numismatic scholar Than Htun reported Pyu coins are frequently seen melted down by modern silversmiths in Yangon, “turning valuable coins into ingots … bought only as silver scraps” (Htun Reference Htun2007: 1). A similar explanation is provided by Cambodia’s SOSORO Museum for the reason behind the diminishment of the Konlah Lan hoard after its initial discovery (Epinal Reference Epinal2014: 108; see Table S2). Footnotes within published collections and auction records in turn reveal that many coins were acquired from dealers in the 1970s and 1980s, a period postdating the typically cited 1970 UNESCO Convention aimed at curbing the illicit trade of cultural property (Brodie Reference Brodie, Green and Mackenzie2009: 45). In fact, the perpetuation of these unscrupulous sourcing methods to meet the demand of collectors has resulted in “most of the extant coins [from Pyu sites] … [having] been dug up informally and … known only when they appear on the antiquities market” (Hudson Reference Hudson2024: 153). It may be in part for this reason, as Epinal laments (Reference Epinal2014: 96), that “[Southeast Asian] numismatists and archaeologists are not inclined to cross-reference or pool their data”.

In surveying the available coins, we have observed how collection trends fragment numismatic evidence. In particular, the loss of context makes futile any die matches identified between individual, properly excavated coins held in regional museums and unprovenanced market specimens. Such matches could otherwise have served as essential evidence highlighting, for example, overland trade in silver coinage (see Wicks Reference Wicks, MacDowall, Sharma and Garg1992b). Additionally, an abundance of die matches from sources such as online auction databases, informal collector forums, and private collections between later Rising Sun/Srivatsa coins (c. ninth–tenth centuries) cross-referenced with unpublished, excavated finds from Myanmar’s Inle Lake region (see discussions by Mahlo Reference Mahlo2012: 12, and Htun Reference Htun2007), points to a restricted range of later silver coinage. This would provide some evidence for a decline in the transactional use of currency across Southeast Asia after the seventh century, a trend not only coinciding with a southward shift in the focus of maritime trade towards Srivijaya (Miksic Reference Miksic2013a: 65, 73–79) but also with the emergence of more insular, centralised agrarian states in mainland Southeast Asia such as Cambodian Zhenla (c. seventh–ninth centuries) and later Burmese Pagan (c. ninth/tenth–thirteen centuries), which did not produce minted currency (Wicks Reference Wicks1992a: 122–24, 186–93). Finally, almost all known smaller-unit (20, 10, 8 ratti) coins come from unprovenanced private collections, some even noted as being ‘recovered’ from hoards (Mitchiner Reference Mitchiner1998), precluding a proper contextual assessment of smaller minted denominations and their role in the ancient ‘Pyu-Mon’ economy. We anticipate that these trends will be verified over time through proper excavations and documentation.

Given the abundance of identical coins salvaged from the Konlah Lan hoard, the numerous die matches across coins from private collections and auction houses suggest that many of these coins likely originated from at least the same regions, if not the same hoards. The fragile state of antiquity preservation in Myanmar makes it plausible that these coins were looted from known archaeological sites and distributed through interconnected networks of illicit antiquities dealers. Die studies and resulting die matches thus have the potential to become invaluable tools for tracing the origins of coins, as well as identifying forgeries, which are notably prevalent in both Myanmar and Thailand (Raymond Reference Raymond2014; Hudson Reference Hudson2024: 153). Increased scrutiny of coins listed by auction houses and private collections, along with their acquisition practices, could further illuminate these connections and expose unethical procurement. This shift in focus would also help transition the study of ancient coinage from what is often referred to as a ‘hobby of kings’ towards a more rigorous academic discipline and, importantly, help further bridge the gap between numismatics and archaeology (see Holt Reference Holt2021).