ABSTRACT
The Manikyala 1830 find was a deliberate accretion of unusual coins, for the depositor had found Kushan coins for his gold casket, Republican denarii for the silver, and Indo-Scythian coppers for the copper one. As for the Pakli and Kohat finds, these are hoards collected over a long period; the Kohat coins may have included Indo-Greek coins as well which would make it unique. The exact nature of the hoard is very unclear, but it is probably typical of the sort of Roman coins available to the caravan traders, as opposed to the sea-merchants. The coin evidence from south India, the terminus for the sea-borne trade, indicates that before the time of Augustus there was little trade, though there may have been more contact, perhaps less direct, with north India. The shortage of precious metal in central and southern India in this period is clear from the scarcity of indigenous coinages in silver and gold.
