South Asian
Gold double dinara of Wima Kadphises/Vima Kadphises
Bactria
113–127 CE.
1944.100.30161
The Society’s South Asian collection includes the coins and currency of the Indian subcontinent, of Southeast Asia as far as the Philippines, and certain ancient Central Asian coins. In time, it extends from the early punch-marked coins of the Indian subcontinent (starting around the sixth century BCE) up to the present. There are around 50,000 items in total. Areas of strength include the ancient coins of the Sakas, Kushans, and Hephthalites, and probably the world’s best collection of Kushano-Sasanian coins. The Sultans of Delhi, the Mughals, and the Indian principalities of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries are well represented. There is also a very extensive collection of Southeast Asian emergency scrip from World War II, especially from the Philippines. At present, there is no expert curator for the collection, but volunteer work and the computer cataloging of the collection continue.