Tibetan scar

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Tibetan coin of 2½ skar with the date 15-48 (= AD 1914), obverse
Tibetan coin of 2½ skar with the date 15-48 (= AD 1914), reverse

The Tibetan scar is a unit of weight that corresponds to one hundredth of a srang or one tenth of a sho (approx. 0.37 g).

Skar as the nominal coin

Tibetan or Chinese hand scales with a sliding weight for weighing silver, red coral and valuable substances such as musk. The balance beam can be made of ivory, wood, or some other non-metallic material and has markings made up of dashes and asterisks.

In the 20th century, the term skar was also used as a denomination for copper coins minted in Tibet . There were two Sino-Tibetan coins with a half and a skar from the Xuantong era as well as copper coins issued by the Tibetan government of 2½, 5 and 7½ skar. A unit is called a “skargang” in Tibetan. In the German-language numismatic literature, the term “skarung” is occasionally found for this, for which there is no evidence in Tibetan sources.

meaning

The word skar has the original meaning "star". This meaning derives from the asterisks that were used as markings on the balance beam of Tibetan and Chinese hand scales. If you moved the barrel weight from one asterisk to the next, it was equivalent to the weight of a skar.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Schön, Günter: World coin catalog. 20th century, 1901–1999, 30th edition, Battenberg, Munich 1999.
  2. ^ Beyer, Stephan: The Classical Tibetan Language . Sri Satguru Publications, New Delhi 1993, p. 228.See also Filchner, Wilhelm: Kumbum Dschamba Ling. The Monastery of the Hundred Thousand Pictures of Maitreya. Leipzig, 1933, p. 398.

literature

  • Bertsch, Wolfgang (2002) The Currency of Tibet. A Sourcebook for the Study of Tibetan Coins, Paper Money and other Forms of Currency, Library of Tibetan Works & Archives, Dharamsala.
  • Gabrisch, Karl: Money from Tibet, Winterthur & Rikon, 1990

Web links