The Coinage of the Gupta Empire and its Imitations c17.s1.12

c17.s1.12

The Kushāṇa gold coinage shows only a few symbols, ♜, ☙, ♜, ♜, ♜, ♜. It appears most probable that the early Gupta mint-masters regarded these symbols on their prototype as merely decorative elements which they were free to diversify in any artistic way they liked. This theory alone can explain the following divergence in the symbols :—