The Coinage of the Gupta Empire and its Imitations c14.s3.t2.9

c14.s3.t2.9

There were two Kumāraguptas, whose rule was separated from each other only by about seventeen years. It is therefore not easy to state with certainty whether the coins of this class were not issued by Kumāragupta II. In favour of the view that they are the coins of Kumāragupta I, it may be pointed out that on some gold coins of this ruler his name is abbreviated into Ku as on the present coins. Skandagupta and Narasimhagupta, who ruled between the deaths of Kumāragupta I and Kumāragupta II, did not issue any copper coins and it is very unlikely that Kumāragupta II may have, during his short and troubled reign, thought of reviving the copper coinage, which was never widely prevalent. The crudeness of the pieces need not necessarily be an argument in favour of Kumāragupta II; during the concluding years of the reign of Kumāragupta I, the empire was very rudely shaken and mints were issuing very crude silver-plated coins in Western India.