Ceylon 1/2 Massa? [Risolto]

Is the coin illustrated below a 1/2 Massa of Ceylon and if so, to which period does it belong and the king or queen that issued it?

D.- 15mm
W.- 4.15 g
Metal copper or bronze

At that weight, it's a full massa of Sri Lanka. I didn't find a solid match in Zeno.

The closest I found is

https://www.zeno.ru/showphoto.php?photo=81301

which, with some wear and damage, could look fairly close to your coin.

Thank you Seeker55 for your input. I agree that by weight, both coins appear to Massas. Below, in the digital images, are a side by side comparison of a queen Lilivata that I have in my collection and the subject coin both obverse and reverse.

To my eye there appear to be major differences. I did notice that the subject coin is considerably thicker than the queen Lilivata. There also appear to be major design differences. For the present without more evidence, I conclude that the subject coin is not a Lilivata. If not a Lilivata, then ???

Thanks again for taking the time and making an effort to help me. It is much appreciated.

LHNUMIS

https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces17657.html

Quant-Geek appears to have it. It appears to be a Stater from the Chola Dynasty of Rajaraja I. Many thanks to Quant-Geek and Seeker55 for their efforts to attribute this coin. Mystery solved.
Kindest regards,

LHNUMIS

Yes, I agree. Rajaraja Chola is a better match. Good solve, Quant-Geek.

An addendum: From a private communication, it has been pointed out to me that this piece was produced at an unknown continental mint situated in south India, not Ceylon. I would like to thank my private contributor publicly for his help in my quest to attribute this coin.

Guess the Chola Dynasty wasn't enough to help you classify it to Southern India. Raja Raja Chola, of the Chola Dynasty in Southern India, conquered Ceylon and brought back the coin design to India. It set off a several century copy of the design in various forms in Southern India between the three major dynasties, the Cholas, Pandyas and the Cheras. Your particular coin is what is called the "dumpy" version of the Kasu from Raja Raja Chola. The fabric and design degraded a bit in whatever mint that it was produced. Here are some examples from my collection:

Imperial Chola of Southern India: Raja Raja Chola (985-1014) Æ Kasu (Biddulph-21)
Obv: King half seated, with raised arm on right; Devanagari legend beneath raised arm; श्री राजा राजा (Sri Raja Raja)
Rev: Standing man, with lamp on left and fish on right, representing the Pandya conquest



Imperial Chola of Southern India: Kulottunga Chola I (1070-1120) Æ Kasu (MCSI-345)
Obv: King half seated, with raised arm on right; Tamil legend beneath raised arm - கு (Ku)
Rev: Standing man, with lamp on left and group of pellets on right



Imperial Chola of Southern India: Raja Raja Chola (985-1014) AV 2 Fanams (Ganesh-1.8)
Obv: King standing looking right
Rev: Devanagari legend in two lines - उया कोंडा (Uya Konda)



Arya Chakravartis of Jaffna: Anonymous (ca. 1284-1410) Æ Massa (MNSI-862)
Obv: Seated king on left facing right with Tamil legend செது (SETU) vertically below his arm.
Rev: Standing king with crown consisting two lines and a dot, trident on left under raised right arm. A bull couchant vertically with a circle before it. All in bead circle. group of spheres on right, surmounted by crescent.

Many thanks to Quant-Geek for further elucidation and clarification of the place of my coin in a larger numismatic and historical context. The superb examples from his collection make vivid the array of items produced in India during these long past epochs for me and other Numista users. Thanks again for taking the time and making the effort to do so!

LHNUMIS

https://sirimunasiha.wordpress.com/about/the-coins-of-pandyan-and-colas-found-in-srilanka/
http://coins.lakdiva.org/medievallanka/polonnaruva.html
http://coins.lakdiva.org/medievallanka/dambadeniya.html

Thank you PetrusAscanus for providing links to online sites providing further insights into the history and numismatics of Ceylon during the period of BC103 to AD1284.

The contributions by Quant-Geek and PetrusAscanus to the subject coin posting seem to me to be immensely illuminating and comprehensive for the ancient Ceylon coinage. Is it possible to allow these posts to be made available in a new CEYLON section of Numisdoc, to which all Numista subscribers could refer?

Cita: "LHNUMIS"​ Is it possible to allow these posts to be made available in a new CEYLON section of Numisdoc, to which all Numista subscribers could refer?

​good idea!