Indische Palaographie von circa 350 a. Chr. – circa 1300 p. Chr. c25.3

c25.3

§ 91. The Imp. Gupta coinage. — The coinage of the main portion of the empire was originally of gold and copper. The types of the gold coins are borrowed at first from the eastern mintages of the Later Great Kuṣaṇas (v. sup. § 74, class (2)); but they show a development of their own and are, without question, by far the finest examples of Indian art. After the annexation of the kingdom of the Kṣatrapas, the Guptas continued in this region the issue of a dated silver coinage, exactly imitated from the coinage of their predecessors except that, in place of the caitya, a frequent Gupta emblem, the peacock, appears on the reverse. A silver coinage bearing this type, but of a somewhat different fabric, seems subsequently to have been struck also in other parts of the empire (v. inf.). The dates on the silver coins of Candragupta II Vikramāditya are not beyond dispute (FLEET, Ind. Ant. 1885, p. 66), but those of his successors, Kumāragupta I (121—136: SMITH, JRAS. 1889, p. 128, and JBA. 1894, p. 175) and Skandagupta (144—? 16x; **Plate IV, 10**: date, 145) are more certain.