The Indian Amulet

I have been able to uncover Samor's "Indian Amulet" while sorting through his office.  It appears to be not so much a real relic as a copy of one. On the back side is inscribed the name "John H. Whitney" acompanied by "No. 046395".  Upon cleaning some corosion on the bottom of the front side of the amulet I have discovered another inscription which reads "Rattanakosin Bicentennial 1982, Bangkok, Thailand".  This confirms Samor's "Indian amulet" as an commemorative coin minted in Thailand to celebrate the Rattanakosin Bicentennial in 1982.

Ko Rattanakosin was built as the new capital of Thailand in the 18th century, today it can be found just north of Chinatown in Bangkok.  Many of Bankok's infamous historical sights are found in the old city including the Grand Palace, Wat Phra Kaew, the learning centers of Wat Pho and Wat Mahathat.  Perhaps the most intriguing of these sites is the Giant Swing found in the temple of Wat Sutat, a structure which is exactly what its name implies - a giant ceremonial swing on which young men swung while attempting to grab a small bag of gold tied high in the air using only their teeth.  Due to the high number of deaths associated with this practice it was abandoned in 1933.


Prior to the unification of Thailand at Bangkok, the country was in fact a number of city-states that were loosely organized into pricipalities. Then in 1782 A.D. King Phra Buddha Yodfa Chulakoke founded the Chakri Dynasty and moved the capitol from Thon Buri to the east bank of the Chso Phraya River creating Ko Rattanakosin.  The new location not only offered a better defensive position but also allowed him to build a new palace, whereas the old one on the other side of the river was threatening to collapse due to erosion.  The ceremony to begin raising the city occured on April 21, 1782.

Samor's mistitled "Indian amulet" is actually one of five Cupro-Nickel Clad Bahts (the official coin of Thailand) minted in 1981 to commemorate the Bicentennial celebrations. 9,000 gold bahts and 600 silver bahts were also minted. Even if the images on the coins were copied from an earlier tradition I doubt they would prove useful to Samor's theories becaues the events they represent occured in the 18th century; a far cry from ancient history.

What then does this mean for my search, did Samor realize this all along? Did he merely use India as a stepping stone to throw off his delusional "pursuers"? Or did his condition prevent him from realizing this was an obvious fraud? And who sent this amulet to him in the first place? Perhaps if I can trace who sent Samor this clue I may be a step closer to finding Samor himself.

The email address from which my mysterious email originated contained the words "hwhitney". Could this be a coincidence? Or does this have something to do with the original owner of the coin? The egnigmatic John H. Whitney whose name is stamped on the back?