A French copper coin bearing the name Puducherry has been discovered near Panruti in Cuddalore district.
Regarding this, archaeologist Emmanuel said: “We conducted a surface field survey in the Thenpennai River at Enathirimangalam near Panruti, along with Palanisamy from the Tiruvannamalai Historical Research Center and teacher Bharathi Raja.
At that time, we found a copper coin buried in the soil. After cleaning it and examining it, we learned that it was a copper coin issued by the French who ruled Puducherry during the period AD 1720–1835.”
The weight of this copper coin is about 4.3 grams. The front side of the coin bears the image of the lily flower, the symbol of the French government, and the back side has three lines engraved in Tamil letters reading Puducherry. From the copper coin that has now been found, it can be understood that French government coins were used in the Panruti area, he said.

