Sale: CNG 66, Lot: 1866. Estimate $300.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 19 May 2004.  Sold For $400. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

INDIA, Uncertain. "Walve Hoard" Type. Circa 12-13th century. AV U-shaped "Larin" (0.41 gm). Gold wire, bent into a U-shape and stamped with three punches: two with Kannada inscriptions, one with uncertain animal. See P.L. Gupta, "Interesting Hoard of Gold Coins from Walve," in JNSI XX (1958), pp. 78-80 (pl. V, 1-4) VF for type. Rare. ($300)

These gold wire coins are similar in method of manufacture to the larins of the Indian Ocean littoral, although apparently several centuries earlier. The four pieces from the Walve Hoard bear the symbol of a boar, while the handful of pieces found subsequently have a different mark, either another type of animal or possibly a goddess. The Kannada legends have never been adequately translated.