Ananda Dynasty double Karshapana: 30 BC to 280 AD

[Rangnath]

This seems to be a Lead double Karshapana (over 15 grams) of the Ananda Dynasty. 
I provided a very poor rubbing (sorry) to help with identification.  The coin is not a pretty one and lead is not a pretty metal to use in coinage.  But I find it immensely interesting.
The tree in the railing reminds me of Sanchi, a Mauryan stupa just North of Bhopal in central India.  Could the hills be symbolic of a stupa and therefore the Buddha?  The tree reminds me of the "tree of life" present in at least one of the four gates into the stupa. 
Look at the bracket to see the tree; its in the second picture from the top. Only in the rubbing do I see evidence of a swastic in the lower right hand corner of the reverse.  Do we have enough inscription to make out the ruler's name?  I think I can see "anandasa" but unfortunately that is apart of every ruler's name of this dynasty. 
Doesn't "dasa" mean servant in Sanskrit?  Does anandadasa literally translate as servant of joy?
Richie

[Overlord]

Hi Richie

Just returned from an official trip to Canacona (Goa). Comparing the inscription with the example on the link you provided, this one looks like an issue of King Chutukulananda (30 BC - 70 AD) to me.

[Overlord]

The tree in the railing reminds me of Sanchi, a Mauryan stupa just North of Bhopal in central India. Could the hills be symbolic of a stupa and therefore the Buddha? 

A few pics of Sanchi...












I find the trees depicted on early Indian coins very interesting. Many different types of trees can be seen on punch-marked coins, with each type probably representing the initials of the issuing ruler. The early cast copper coins commonly depicted a tree-in-railing. The Sunga dynasty, which succeeded the Mauryas, used a fig tree (or Bodhi tree) ("Sunga" means "fig tree".)

The arched hill symbols found on early Indian coins are also quite interesting. On Maurayan punch-marked coins, these could have been used to indicate descent from a particular ruler?/clan?/deity?. Take the following symbols, for example.

Could the crescent-on-arches mark have been used to indicate descent from moon, or descent from Chandragupta (the first Mauryan emperor; Chandra=Moon)?

Could the eight-arched-hill (as seen in your coin) have been used to represent the Noble Eightfold Path?

Doesn't "dasa" mean servant in Sanskrit? Does anandadasa literally translate as servant of joy? 

Dasa can mean "servant" or "ten", depending on its context. I think the names here should be broken as  Chutukulananda-dasa, Mulananda-dasa, etc., for translation, not Chutukul-anandadasa, etc. I think Dasa here would probably mean "servant of god".

[Rangnath]

I was last in Goa in 1969.  I'll bet that it has changed quite a bit.
Thanks for the wonderful pictures of Sanchi!  I love the place so much. It is one of my favorite spots in all of the world.
And thanks for the information.
Having a probable king and date make the coin all the more fun to look at. 
richie