The Coinage of the Gupta Empire and its Imitations c8.6

c8.6

On some rare coins there is a cluster of dots between the feet of the king and queen (Pl. I. 12-13).¹ On the prototype (Pl. I. 3-4), this place was occupied by some Brāhmī letter, probably giving the initial of the name of the governor or the mint city. This practice is discarded in the imperial Gupta coinage. It appears that some mint-masters thought of replacing this letter by an ornamental device in the form of a star or cluster of dots. In some cases it is beautifully carved and looks almost like a woven device on the hanging upper garment of the queen (Pl. I. 13). In other cases, however, it is crudely represented (Pl. I. 12).