The Coinage of the Gupta Empire and its Imitations c17.s3.3

c17.s3.3

The reader will notice a stylistic difference in the forms of letters as they occur on plates **XX-XXIV** on the one hand and on plates XXV-XXVI on the other. In the first five plates, Mr. C. Sivaramamurti, who kindly prepared them at my request, has tried to give the actual form of the letters as seen on the Gupta coins of the Bayana hoard. The last two plates copy the forms of the letters as they are given in the plates published by Mr. Allan in the *B.M.C., G.D.* Mr. Allan has idealised the forms of the Gupta letters, prepared their types and then composed the legends in them. The two types of plates will enable the reader to visualise both the actual and idealised or generalised forms of Gupta characters.