The Coinage of the Gupta Empire and its Imitations c9.s1.16

c9.s1.16

On a solitary gold coin of the late Kushāṇa type of very crude workmanship, we unexpectedly come across the legend Samudra under the king's arm (Pl. II. 11). There is no doubt that the coin belongs not to the Gupta series, but to the Late Kushāṇa series of the Punjab. There is a trident and not a Garuḍadhvaja in front of the king; there is a solitary Brāhmī letter śa near the right foot of the king, as is to be seen on several other coins of this series (Pl. I. 3, 4). Outside the standard or spear, there is a perpendicular legend, read as Gaḍahara by Cunningham. Its reading, however, is uncertain, as the letters are interlocked with one another. The first letter ga is, however, definite.