Book Description

Excerpt from The Coins of Haidar Ali and Tipu Sultan This account of the coins of Haidar Ali and Tipu Sultan is largely based on the collection of the Madras Government Museum, which, so far at least as the copper issues are concerned, is probably one of the most complete in existence. I have, however, also taken other sources into account, such as the works of previous writers, the large collections of the British Museum, London, and the Mysore Government Museum at Bangalore, as well as private collections. I regret that the notes which I took on the occasion of my visits to the two institutions just referred to are not as complete as I could have wished, and I have not been able to revisit these collections in recent years. The letter M following the number of a coin indicates that it is represented in the collection of the Madras Museum. In cataloguing the somewhat complicated issues of Tipu Sultan, I am convinced that, if confusion is to be avoided, the only safe course is to arrange the coins according to mints. In leaving the size of the coins to be inferred from the plates, and making comparatively little reference to their weight, I have perhaps laid myself open to adverse criticism; but as most of the coins were roughly struck there are frequent variations in their size, and to some extent also in their weight. I have tried to indicate the chief variations in weight, without giving unnecessary details in regard to individual specimens. In an attempt to indicate the relative scarcity or abundance of the different coins, I have perhaps ventured on an innovation in works of this kind. I have, however, attempted to do so on account of exceptional opportunities for forming such an opinion; during a period of over quarter of a century many thousands of these coins, collected from all parts of Southern India, have passed through my hands. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.