Kasu

Late kasu coins from Kerala

Kasu was the general Tamil name for coins made of gold, silver and copper in southern India in the 1st millennium . Until the 18th century, kasu represented various coins of low value. A copper coin called Kasu was issued by the rulers of the southern Indian kingdom of Mysore from around 1750. An elephant is depicted on the front of the Mysore Kasu. These kasu were therefore also called elephant cash . At the beginning of the 20th century there were still - different looking - Kasu coins in today's southern Indian Kerala (see illustration).

Individual evidence

^ A. Soundaram: The Characteristic Features of the Early Medieval Tamil Society. In: S. Ganeshram, C. Bhavani (Eds. :) History of People and Their Environs: Essays in Honor of Prof. BS Chandrababu. Indian Universities Press, Chennai 2011, p. 78.
↑ Ewald Junge: Kasu . In: Tyll Kroha (Ed.): Lexicon of Numismatics . Bertelsmann Lexikon-Verlag, Gütersloh 1977, p. 227

[1] A. Soundaram: The Characteristic Features of the Early Medieval Tamil Society. In: S. Ganeshram, C. Bhavani (Eds. :) History of People and Their Environs: Essays in Honor of Prof. BS Chandrababu. Indian Universities Press, Chennai 2011, p. 78.

[EJ-2] Ewald Junge: Kasu . In: Tyll Kroha (Ed.): Lexicon of Numismatics . Bertelsmann Lexikon-Verlag, Gütersloh 1977, p. 227