The Coinage of the Gupta Empire and its Imitations c11.s3.6

c11.s3.6

Both the king and the goddess in this class are sometimes nimbate (Pl. VII. 12, 14) and sometimes not (Pl. VII. 13.). A few coins show a crescent near the top on the obverse (Pl. VIII. 4.), but the majority are without it. On one rare coin, we have a crescent both on the obverse, behind the king's head, and on the reverse at the place of the symbol.¹ The posture of the goddess on the reverse is strikingly similar to that on the Lyrist type of Samudragupta. The lotus, which she holds in her left hand, has usually a long stalk and the artist, in some cases, has enhanced its beauty by adding leaves and buds to it (Pl. VII. 15). The left hand usually holds a noose, but in one case it is scattering coins (Pl. VII. 3).