Sri coins from my collection

Shri (Devanagari: श्री), also transliterated as Sree, Shri, Sri, Shree, Si or Seri is a word of Sanskrit origin, used in the Indian subcontinent as a polite form of address in written and spoken language, or as a title of veneration for deities (usually translated as "Holy").

Following are some of the sri legend coins of South India:

Coins of the Pallavas

The Pallava dynasty was a medieval South Indian dynasty that existed between the 6th and 9th centuries, ruling a portion of what is today southern India. They gained prominence after the eclipse of the Satavahana or Andhra dynasty, whom the Pallavas served as feudatories.

Krishna Raja Wodeyar's Copper cash coins

Krishna Raja Wodeyar (1799-1868): Copper cash coins

Obv: Sardula (mythical tiger) standing left, sun, Sri and moon above, all within double ruled, dotted border

Rev: Kannada legend: Krishna (referring to Krishna Raja Wodeyar), Persian legend below.

Venad chera Battle-axe coins

Beena Sarasan attributes parasu coins around the 14th century and subsequent periods upto 16th or 17th century. In which the later coins bear Tamil 'cha'(ச) character representing chera.

South Indian Goddess coins

The Tridevi (English: three goddesses; Sanskrit: त्रिदेवी tridevī) is a concept in Hinduism joining the three consorts of the Trimurti, or the Great Trinity. This union is personified by the forms of the Hindu Goddesses, Saraswati, Lakshmi, and Parvati. In Shaktism, these deities are the manifestations of Shakti, the Divine Mother.

In the Navratri ("nine nights") festival, "the Goddess is worshiped in three forms. During the first three nights, Durga or Parvati is revered, then Lakshmi on the fourth, fifth and sixth nights, and finally Saraswati until the ninth night."

Following is some of my collection:

Vrishabha Kunjara on Coins

Vrishabha means Bull and Kunjara means Elephant

The stone carving of Vrishabha Kunjara is an interesting piece of artwork with head of Bull and elephant in common.

From the left, we can see the head of the Bull facing right whereas the elephant facing left also can be seen on the same head.

Following is a depiction of Vrishabha Kunjara motif on Gingee Maratha* coins

Gingee Maratha* - doubtful attribution.

Twin Parrots on Coins

Animals and birds have always been a sculptor’s favorite subject of art even from the pre-historic periods and his passion derives in depicting them in an artistic manner.

Following is one such example of the engraver depicting twin parrots on Gingee maratha coin*.

What are these mythical birds?

The male bird is called Kinnara & the female bird is called Kinnari.(half bird & half human). 

These mythical birds are almost left out when it comes to references.

The primary reference of them comes when the Puranas describe the geography of Jambudweep saying that there is a country called Kimpurushvarsha lying beyond the Kailasa where the Kinnaras and Kimpurushas live. The Kimpurushas thus have a fixed territory of Kimpurushvarsha but the Kinnaras are also mentioned to be living along with Yakshas and Gandharvas in certain places.

The main reason why one remembers the Kinnaras is their phenomenal ability to sing beautifully.  References were made in the Mahabharata and the same can be understood from their depictions with thambura:

Following are the coins of Gingee Marathas* with Kinnara/Kinnari depiction

The princely states of India which minted their own currency

British India was divided into several administrative categories. There was the Presidency India, which comprised of states ruled by British Governors under the Viceroy.

The other category was the Native Ruled India. This comprised of 552 Samasthaans ruled by native rulers known variously as Maharajas, Maharanas, Rajas, Ranas, Raos, Nawabs, Nizam, and other miscellaneous titles. Some were very large, drawing very large revenues. Some were very small. The States were classified into A.B,C. etc., categories. The categories depended upon the special rights, privileges, articles of protocol, and marks of respect like the gun-salute. Certain most privileged states had the right of issuing their own stamps and coinage.

Coins of Queen Meenakshi - The Last Ruler of Madurai Nayaks

Queen Meenakshi (ruled 1731-1736) was the last ruler (Regent Queen) in the Madurai Nayaks line. She was the grand daughter-in-law of Rani Mangammal.

Vijaya Ranga Chokkanatha died in 1731, and was succeeded by his widow Meenakshi, who acted as Queen-Regent on behalf of a young boy she had adopted as the heir of her dead husband. She had only ruled a year or two when an insurrection was raised against her by Vangaru Tirumala, the father of her adopted son, who pretended to have claims of his own to the throne of Madurai. At this juncture representatives of the Mughals appeared on the scene and took an important part in the struggle.

Following are some of the coins issued by Queen Meenakshi: