Students find British coins in Ramnad district

Madurai: Students of Suresh Sudha Alagan Memorial Government Higher Secondary School, Thirupullani, Ramanathapuram district found some ancient British coins. The antique coins were defined by V Rajaguru, archeologist and secretary of the School Heritage Club, as at least 200 years old.

As a result of training to identify ancient coins, potsherds, read and Estampage inscriptions, the students garnered an amount of excitement for antiques in their areas during holidays and leisure time.

T Pravinraj, a student of Class 9 and M Ayyappan of Class 6 found those British era coins that were circular, in Keelavalasai and Sethukarai respectively. While three coins were made of copper, the other coin was made of bronze, Rajaguru said on Thursday.

One was minted in AD 1833, and spotted by Pravinraj in Keelavalasai. On one side of the coin, it depicts the symbol of the East India Company, and on the other side is a scale image. Above the scale is ‘quarter anna’ in English and below, it’s an Arabic word.

The other coin was released for circulation in 1887 AD during the reign of Queen Victoria. It’s actually worth ‘quarter anna’. ‘One quarter anna India 1887’ was written in English in five lines on the coin. The back of the coin is inscribed with Victoria Empress and has a bust of her image.

Ayyappan;s find at Sethukarai seashore was a small coin issued in 1835 AD worth 1/12 anna. The other coin was issued in 1941 AD during the reign of King George VI and worth 1/4 anna. “The back of the coin is inscribed with Emperor George VI and has a bust of his image,” Rajaguru said.

Further, Rajaguru while illustrating the history said several devotees visited Thirupullani and took a holy dip in Sethukarai sea since ancient times. After bathing, they often left their clothes and coins in the sea.