The Coinage of the Gupta Empire and its Imitations c15.s1.1

c15.s1.1

Gold coinage of the three great Gupta emperors Samudragupta, Chandragupta II and Kumāragupta I, shows a pleasing and surprising variety. The crave for numismatic variety, however, comes to an end with the accession of Skandgupta. He issued gold coins certainly in three and perhaps in four types; none of them, however, can be described as new. His successors confined themselves to one type only; most of them had short reigns and lived in troubled times. Skandagupta at the beginning of his reign had to spend a night on bare ground, while trying to retrieve the declining fortunes of his family. He was eventually successful in re-establishing the prestige of his house; but it appears that he was too much occupied with the weighty affairs of state to find the necessary leisure to think of any new types for his coinage.