The Coinage of the Gupta Empire and its Imitations c13.11

c13.11

The Archer type of Chandragupta II, Class I, showed the goddess on the reverse seated on the throne, as on the Kuṣāṇa prototype. This motif does not at all appear on the Archer type of Kumāragupta I; there the goddess is always seated on the lotus as in class II of Chandragupta II. On the obverse the king is standing to left, having an arrow in the right hand and bow in the left. The latter is held sometimes at the top and sometimes by the middle. Sometimes *Kumāra* is written under the left arm and sometimes the name is contracted into *Ku*. Sometimes there is neither *Kumāra* nor *Ku* at this place; the attribution of these coins becomes possible only on account of the *biruda* on the reverse.