Abstract

• There are different methodological approaches on ancient numismatic evidences in Myanmar archaeology literature. All of these research works usually emphasize on symbolic and typological analysis except for a few. Therefore, these studies intend to reveal ancient beliefs and religious customs through conceptual framework. There are, however, some approaches on numismatic evidences in terms of element analysis applications_ such as thermal neutron, lead based chemical analysis and proton- induced X-ray emission (PIXE) method_ to investigate the ancient metallurgy. Coins uncovered from Pinle can be grouped into three. Among them Heterogeneous coins are assumed to be the earliest one. The large variety of coin types in Myanmar suggest that they were produced by a number of different centuries, which had common auspicious symbols, local preferences for certain symbols and symbols combination and sufficient autonomy as well as silver resources to produce their own coins. The finding spots of silver coins indicate the existence of trading centers which may be connected by land and sea routes across the Mainland Southeast Asia or Bay of Bangal or Indian Ocean. Formerly some scholar assumed that Pyu coins were minted as symbol and some were used as ornaments. But as a result of thorough investigation, there is every reason to believe that Pyu coins were used as money for they have various standard weights and sizes. A controversial coin is more likely to be an amulet or insignia than to be used as money or medium of exchange. This paper is an attempt to review on different methodologies and their application. It also presents not only the result of metallurgical analysis from numismatic evidence of Pinle (Maingmaw) but also the evolutionary stages in the development of Pyu coin.