The Coinage of the Gupta Empire and its Imitations c14.s1.t5: Class VIII: Silver-Plated Coins of Madhyadeśa Type
The Coinage of the Gupta Empire and its Imitations c14.s1.t5
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Class VIII: Silver-Plated Coins of Madhyadeśa Type
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The plated coins of the Madhyadeśa type are relatively much rarer than those of the Western types. The British Museum possesses only one specimen (No. 402), which is a thin broad piece, being 22.8 grains in weight and .6" in diameter. But this coin is not purely of the Madhyadeśa type, as the features of its bust are Western Indian, though its reverse shows the fan-tailed peacock. Two coins of this type were found at Kanauj. The solitary copper coin of the fan-tail peacock type existing in the Indian Museum is probably one of them.¹ Two coins were found at Sanchankot in Unao district, which are now in the State Museum, Lucknow.² They do not appear to have been published. Smith had acquired one specimen at Jais in Rai Bareily distirct, which had no traces left of silver-plating.³ The Banaras Hindu University coin cabinet possesses one coin of this type, purchased from a Lucknow dealer and therefore probably obtained in U. P. The whole of its reverse has the entire silver coating; it has been washed away only from the upper quarter of the obverse.
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¹ *J.R.A.S.*, 1893, p. 138. The *Catalogue* of the Museum, however, refers to only one of these two coins, (p. 116); what has happened to the other is not known.
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² *J.A.S.B.*, 1894, p. 175.
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³ *J.R.A.S.*, 1893, p. 138.
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We now describe two coins of this type.
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(1) Copper, silver-coated; .6"; 22-8 grains; *B.M.C.*, *G.D.*; Pl. XVIII. 14. *Obv:* Crude bust of the king to r, imitating the Kshatrapa type. *Rev:* Fan-tailed peacock; legend XII [*vijitā*]vanaravanipati Kumāra[*gupta*]dava jaya[*ta*]. (Pl. XVII. 28)
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(2) Copper, silver-plated; .55"; 29.5 grains; Banaras Hindu University, Banaras; *J.N.S.I.*, Vol. XIII. p. 76. *Obv:* Bust of the king to r.; date in front 100,30 (?). Notice how the silver coating has gone off in part of the upper portion, which appears black in colour in the plate. *Rev:* Fan-tailed peacock; circular legend, [*Vi*]jitavaniravanipati Kumaragupto davam jaya(*ti*). (Pl. XVII. 27)