The Coinage of the Gupta Empire and its Imitations c14.s2.11

c14.s2.11

But even supposing that Chashṭana had issued some copper pieces exactly imitating his silver issues, it is very unlikely that the Guptas would have imitated his example. All the successors of Chashṭana were in the habit of generally selecting a different type for their copper currency and it is very unlikely that Kumāragupta would have influenced ced by the practice of a ruler who flourished three hundred years before his time, and not by the uniform practice of the latter's numerous successors. Administrative prudence required that nothing should be done which would have raised the least suspicion about the real nature of the silver-plated issues, and this circumstance alone would have prevented the Gupta mint authorities from sanctioning a type in copper exactly resembling the silver one.