Nepalese clay token

Actual size 19.8 x 21.9 mm

Total meaning of that item is not clear for me yet.

In my e-mail message of 15 January 1998 I mentioned that the Tibetan clay token you showed on your web-side probably is not Tibetan but medieval Nepal.
Indeed this is confirmed by Mr. Nicholas Rhodes who wrote to me:
"The clay piece looks certainly Nepalese. It is a religious donative object, found in Buddhist temples throughout the Himalayan region and called Tsa-tsa in Tibetan. The grey clay, often with traces of mica, is typical of examples made in Kathmandu and the lettering looks like a mediaeval script of perhaps 13th-14th century - certainly not 19th Century. Objects of this type do date back to Lichhavi times, and an example is illustrated in D.R. Regmi's book "Inscriptions of Ancient Nepal". I have a specimen with beautiful Lichhavi period script, excavated in Nepal in the late 1960's. However, I am rather suspicious of this example, as the lettering is cruder than early specimens I have seen - the last two letters on the second line are even written in retrograde - !!! - and my Sanskrit is not good enough to determine whether the whole legend makes sense.
Late Carlo Valdettaro found some similar pieces in Nepal in the 1970's, if my memory serves me right, but he was not convinced of their authenticity - so the piece could either be a relatively modern fake, or a genuine Tsa-tsa of the 13-14th century - I hesitate to say which, but tend towards the thought that it may be genuine. What is certain is that it had no monetary function, and is of not great value now. Clearly my views are the same as yours."

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Any additional comments on that coin would be appreciated. You can sent it to Vladimir Belyaev .

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