The Coinage of the Gupta Empire and its Imitations c14.s2.1

c14.s2.1

Dr. Buhler, who had collected a very large number of copper Gupta coins closely resembling the silver issues in and around Valabhi, thought that those coins were real copper pieces, issued not by the Guptas, but some later rulers who succeeded them at Valabhi.¹ The manufacture of copper coins, however, was such a tedious and unprofitable process in ancient India that it is very unlikely that they could ever have been issued in so large a quantity by some petty local dynasties in Kathiawar or by private moneyers, Even governments were reluctant to take the trouble of minting them. Smith is therefore right in maintaining that they must have been issued by some public authority and must have served as an authorised coinage.²