Saturday 9 November 2019

Extremely Rare Gold Dinar Coin of Chandragupta II of Gupta Dynasty of Archer type.

 Coin of Chandragupta
 Coin of Chandragupta
Gupta Dynasy, Chandragupta II (Vikramaditya) (375-415 AD), Gold Dinar, Archer TypeUnusual Variety of Reverse Archer and Reverse Face, Obv: king standing to right looking backwards to left with the body also turned one fourth to the left, wearing janghia and sash with the upper half body and the head bare only, holding arrow in right hand and the left hand is seen holding the bow at center from inside the string, bow is also reverse than of usual right, garuda standard Garuda dwhaja, Chandra outside the bow-string, circular brahmi legend 'Devasrimaharajadhirajadhirajasri-Chandraguptah'Rev: goddess lakshmi seated facing on a lotus in padmasana, holding noose in her right hand and lotus in left whose stem is coming from inside the hand resting on the thigh, tamgha to left with brahmi legend ‘Sri Vikramah’, 7.74g, 18.01mm, (Altekar, Bayana Hoard # Pl. XIII-5), about extremely fine, Extremely Rare.
Many coins are reported in Chandragupta II with the reverse face but this combination of reverse face and reverse archer is offered for the first time. The interesting thing to note here is that the bow is held by king in reverse position and his hand is coming within the bow and resting at the center of the bow. Usually what we see is the reverse looking king with his hand going up and holding the bow from the top but this specimen has the hand coming to the down holding the bow from the center. The bow is seen resting on the shoulders of the king. And if the reverse is observed than the lotus stem will be seen going from inside the lower part of hand to the top. This type of the king’s position makes this specimen amazing. Lovely artistic features overall on this beautiful specimen.
BMC catalog does not list this in their collection ,very interesting specimen missing from various collections.

Thursday 7 November 2019

Extremely Rare Gold Dinar Coin of Samudragupta of Gupta Dynasty of Lyrist Type.

Coin of Samudragupta
Coin of Samudragupta
Gupta Dynasty, Samudragupta (335-370 AD), Gold Dinar, Lyrist type, Obv: king seated upright facing left on a high-backed throne, wearing pearled cap,   playing a veena (lute) that rests on his knees, and on footstool character ’Si’ for siddham (luck) below couch off flan, circular brahmi legend "Maharajadhiraja Shri...guptah" in the exergue, Rev: goddess lakshminimbate seated left on a wicker stool holding a diadem fillet in her right hand and a cornucopia in the left, the feets are resting on the lotus, brahmi legend "Samudraguptah" in right margin, 7.38g, 21.08mm, (unlsited), about extremely fineExtremely Rare.
This specimen is of very high artistic designs with deep details and probably unlisted in all the major publications including Altekar, this variety does not show tamgha in front of the goddess and the feets of goddess are seen in the resting position on the lotus. The legs of the couch are totally different than the listed type in the ref. catalogs and are very artistic. Amazing specimen overall!

Wednesday 6 November 2019

Extremely Rare Gold Dinar Coin of Samudragupta of Gupta Dynasty of Ashwamedha Type.

Gold Dinar Coin of Samudragupta
Gold Dinar Coin of Samudragupta
Gupta Empire, Samudragupta (345-375 AD), Gold Dinar, 'Ashwamedha' type, Obv: sacrificial horse standing left, low platform before a Yupa (sacrificial post), slightly bent in the centre, yupa has an ornamental pedestral in two steps, adorned with banners and ribbons, in its front, brahmi legend 'RajadhirajaPrthivimavi....vajayatyahri' (King of Kings, who conquered the earth, Restorer of Ashwamedh), around, brahmi letter 'Si' (Siddam) on top of a pedestal placed on the platform under the horse belly, Rev: chief queen in the guise of a goddess, standing left pedestal carrying a fly-whisk in her flexed hand, placed on her shoulder and holding towel in left hand, brahmi legend 'AshwamedhaParakramah' in the right field and ritual needle or Soochi in the left, 8.0g, 21.83mm, Unlisted type in Altekar and BMC (the variant of BMC Pl. V-10 &Altekar Pl. III-7) , well centre struck, choice extremely fine, Extremely Rare.

Very interesting specimen than of all the other types from the series, the throat, neck, shoulder and chest of the horse is broader than of normal specimens. Coin has the stylised version of the horse where the front of the body is much broader and the back of the horse is seen more inclined. 

The yupa is also stylized from the bottom with ribbons on the middle part of it, the extended part from the top of yupa is in the standard form without the dotted motifs or floral designs. The placement of the letter 'Si' over a pedestal is a rare variation for the type.