Recording History: No Casual Matter

I never expected that the enterprise of writing a book about Bhutan’s ancient coinage would be easy. But not in my wildest dreams did I foresee it would be so daunting and perplexing. Of course, I knew I had to deal with history—passed down by word-of-mouth over the centuries and recorded in the form of books and journals by a multitude of historians, both locals and visiting foreigners. Still, an undertaking born of a hobby should have been fun and enjoyable. Yet as I went along, I realized that grappling with the historical record is anything but easy; there is nothing casual about such scholarly work.

Recording history, I realized, is not for the half-hearted or irresponsible. It is a job that requires one to be determined, unrelenting and dogged, both in research methods and in pursuit of truth. Even more important, it has to be undertaken with humility and with acceptance that there are others who know far more. My efforts have also taught me that it is unwise to place total faith in those reputed to be the best in the field—because these esteemed exemplars are not without their share of biases and lazy thinking.

The case of the perplexing Neoli Maartang

It is accepted by collectors and writers around the world that one of Bhutan’s rarest coins is the following Maartang (copper coin):

Maartang Neoli – one of the three known copies of the coin. The one shown above is in the collection of late N. Rhodes, currently lodged at the SPINK auction house in London, UK. Another one is with a collector in Germany - third one? Well, I don't know.

Based on the image of a Neoli (mongoose) depicted on the obverse of the coin, Mr. Nicholas Rhodes, widely considered the most learned authority on Bhutanese coinage, dubbed this rare artifact the Neoli Coin.

But given the uncommon design of the coin, I began to develop doubts about its antecedents. In particular, I harbored the following questions:

Is the image on the obverse of the coin really a Neoli (mongoose)?
I am inclined to believe that the image is most likely that of a Neoli. The reason is that the Neoli depicted on the obverse of the Neoli Maartang is shown spewing Norbu (jewels). This is how the Neoli is portrayed on the Bhutanese/Tibetan Thangka - being held in the left arm of the Buddhist mythical God of Wealth—the Zambalha, as seen below:

Thangka painting of Zambalha, the God of Wealth.

Was the coin used as money or something else?
Given the uncommon design of the Neoli Coin, I am also doubtful that the coin is really a coin. Can it be that it is not a coin but an Exonumia?

Exonumia are numismatic items that include all kinds of coin-like items, but are not actual coins; they are not issued to serve as money nor are they used in monetary transections. They are rarely, if ever, issued by national governments. They are more popularly known as Temple Tokens. Many countries and cultures around the world produce them. In India, where our coins originate, most of these coin lookalikes are called Ramtanka. The following are some examples of exonumia:

Exonumia from India and France

Here's another telling fact: the Neoli Coin has a monolithic front with one solitary image on its obverse—unlike all Bhutanese coins, which bear multiple figures/motifs/alphabets on both their obverse and reverse, as seen here:

Traditional design of Bhutanese coins. All of them have multiple motifs/alphabets/conjuncts — both on the obverse as well as on the reverse.

Where was the Neoli Coin produced?
The coin collector and historian Mr. Nicholas Rhodes, in one of his journals titled “Coinage in Bhutan” which was submitted to the Centre for Bhutan Studies, asserts that the Neoli Coin may have been struck at Bhutan House, Kalimpong by the Dorji family. He writes: 

A cut-out from the journal submitted to the CBS by Mr. Nicholas Rhodes.

But Mr. Rhodes was completely in error. Years later, the supposed “old minting machine” was retrieved from Bhutan House by Dasho Benji Dorji. It turns out that it was not a minting machine at all, but a book binder! The following photos make this clear:

Comparison of the supposed minting machine from Bhutan House, Kalimpong and the antique cast iron book press auctioned by the Dominic Winter Auctioneers of UK. 

Mr. Rhodes’ misinformed conclusion that the coin was produced from a coin-minting machine—more precisely, a coin screw press—may have arisen from the fact that the Neoli Coin has a “rim” around the perimeter. Normally, only machine-struck coins have raised rims or reeded edges.

Rim and edge on machine struck coins.

Is it possible that the Neoli Coin is not Bhutanese?
I know of no other Bhutanese coin – other than the Neoli Coin that is under discussion here that bear the image of mongoose on it. But Mr. Wolfgang Bertsch of Germany, recognized as one of the most established historians and collector of Tibetan currency brought to my notice that Tibet did issue a coin that bore the image of a pair of mongooses on it:

The Tibetan 10 Srang coin issued in 1950 bearing a pair of mongooses on its reverse. The above coin is in the collection of retired Ambassador Tobgye Sonam Dorji

Mr. Bertsch accepts that the Neoli coin – if it is a coin at all – is most likely Tibetan. That said, he does not believe that it would have been struck with the intention of using it as money. In his experience, all Tibetan coins struck in the 20th century (other than the Gaden Tangkas and related "monk Tangkas") bear a date and are denominated in Skar, Sho or Srang. The Neoli Coin, on the other hand, neither has a date nor a denomination meaning that it is not a coin - not atleast a Tibetan one.

So where does all this confusion lead me? As of now, I am undecided as to what the Neoli Maartang really is: a coin or an exonumia. I will have to wait and see if more substantive findings emerge in the coming months and years. Until the matter is settled, I will be content to simply admire the Neoli Coin’s beauty, history—and mystery.