MODERN SIKH TEMPLE TOKENS AND COMMEMORATIVE MEDALS

MODERN SIKH TEMPLE TOKENS AND COMMEMORATIVE MEDALS

Copywrite  by Saran Singh

A.) MODERN SIKH TEMPLE TOKENS

Early Temple tokens were used as offerings in the Gurdwara's in place of money.

However, the Temple Tokens issued in the last 50 years were made to serve as commemorative items for collectors. 

Guru Nanak / Mool Mantar

Silver Diameter: 31mm

                             Weight: 10.10g.

Guru Gobind Singh Ji

preparing the Amrit

300^th birth anniversary of the

 Khalsa 1699 – 1999

Silver. Diameter: 31mm.

Weight: 9.50g. Bombay

Guru Gobind Singh Ji riding a

horse with his falcon in hand

Sri Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple)

Silver. Diameter: 31mm.

                     Weight: 9.80g., Bombay

B.)  COMMEMORATIVE MEDALS

Commemorative medals are usually a piece of metal, marked with design and/or inscriptions , made to honour a person, place  or event, and not intended to pass as money. 

Sri Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple)

Amritsar War Effort Mela 1945

Silver. Diameter: 32mm

Weight: 24.00g.

Sri Guru Nanak Sahib Ji

1469 - 1539

500^th birth anniversary.

Gold plated copper, Silver plated copper, Copper

D: 38mm, W: 23.04g.

Issued in 1969, Set of three pieces

                                 Sri Gobind Singh Ji 1666 – 1966

                                    300^th birth anniversary.

                                    International Sikh Brotherhood

                                    Gold plated nickel. Diameter: 46mm, Weight: 12.00 grammes

            Saint Soldier Bhai Maharaj Singh Ji (1731-1856)

            150^th Anniversary 2006

            Set of three commemorative medallions

            Proof like silver .999 , Weight: 20 grammes , Diameter: 38.70 mm

            Gold plated Silver, Weight: ? , Diameter: 38.70 mm

            Proof like Gold (50 pieces) 999.9 fine, Weight: 10 grammes, Diameter: 21.96 mm

            Struck at the Singapore Mint. Issued by Gurdwara Sahib Silat Road, Singapore.

Saint Soldier Bhai Maharaja Singh was a patriot who fought against  the British after the fall of the

Sikh Empire of Punjab. He was captured, treated as a political prisoner, and brought to Singapore in July 1850, where he passed away in 1856

                        Tercentenary – 300th Birth Anniversary of Khalsa 1699 – 1999

                        Silver 999.0 fine Medallion. Diameter: 47 mm, Weight: 50 grammes

                        Gold 999.0 fine Medallion. Diameter: 25 mm, Weight: 10 grammes

Set of two pieces. Made by MMTC Limited, New Delhi, India Lssued by Punjab  Small Industries & Export Corpn. Ltd, Chandigarh

300^th birth anniversary of the Khalsa 1699 – 1999            

Takht Sri Kesgarh Sahib, Sri Anandpur Sahib

                                    Tin (Pewter). Diameter: 51mm, Weight: 40.40 grammes

                                    (Issued by Sikh Naujawan Sabha Malaysia)

The first handwritten copy of the Sikh Holy Scripture known as the Pothi Sahib Ji (later known as the Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji), was compiled and installed in the Sri Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple), Amritsar by Guru Arjan Dev Ji in 1604. To commemorate the 400^th anniversary of this important event, the following medal was issued in Malaysia in 2004.

                        400^th  anniversary of the first Parkash Dihara (Installation)

                        of the Sikh Holy Scripture, Pothi Sahib Ji 1604 – 2004   

at the Sri Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple), Sri Amritsar, Punjab.

                        Mintage: 500 pieces in teak box.

                        Pewter Medallion. Diameter: 51 mm, Weight: 40 grammes

Guru Gobind Singh Ji conferred the Guruship on the Sikh Holy Scripture, Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, as the last and only eternal living Guru of the Sikhs at Nanded, India  in 1708. The 300^th anniversary of this oocassion which fell in 2008, was celebrated on a very large scale. To commemorate this occasion, the following medal was issued in Malaysia in 2008

             300^th  Gurta Gaddi Divas of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji 1708-2008

             (300^th anniversary of the conferment of Guruship of the Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji

             Takhat  Sachkhand Sri Hazur Sahib Ji Abchalnagar, Nanded, India.

             Gold plated Brass  (Mintage 150 pieces in teak box) and

             Silver plated Brass (Mintage 150 pieces in teak box)

             Diameter: 51mm, Weight : 38 grammes                                

                500th Avtar Dihara (Birth Anniversary) of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji 1469 - 1969

                Guru Nanak, the first Guru, was the founder of Sikhism

                Tin (Pewter), Diameter: 51 mm, Weight:     ?      grammes

                Mintage: 500 pieces in teak box. Issued in Malaysia in 2004.

               500^th Avtar Dihara (Birth Anniversary) of Sri Guru Angad Dev Ji 1504 - 2004

               Guru Angad, the second Guru of the Sikhs, continued the teachings of Guru Nanak,

               and also introduced the Gurmukhi script in its’  present form.

               Tin (Pewter), Diameter: 51 mm, Weight:    ?       grammes

               Mintage: 500 pieces in teak box. Issued in Malaysia in 2004. 

             500th Avtar Dihara (Birth Anniversary) of Sri Guru Amar Das Ji 1479 - 1979  

             Guru Amar Das was the third Guru of the Sikhs. He brought reforms to the Sikh     

             faith,  propagated the emancipation of women and introduced the concept of the

             Community kitchen (Guru ka Langgar) .

             Tin (Pewter), Diameter: 51 mm, Weight:         ?     grammes

             Mintage; 500 pieces in teak box. Issued in Malaysia in 2004.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

A special word of thanks goes to the following researches of Sikh coinage of Punjab who very kindly checked and updated some of the information in this manuscript “The Coins of the Sikhs – Punjab” .

Dalwinder Singh, California, USA

Coin Photo’s

All the Sikh coins photographs (unless otherwise acknowledged) are from the authors collection.