The Age of the Imperial Guptas c10.156

c10.156

Long after the close of the 6th century A.D. coins of the type of the Imperial Guptas continued to be struck in Eastern Bengal for local circulation. In weight they did not even approach the Kushan standard of 118-19 grains, not to speak of the *Suvarṇa* Standard of the reign of Skandagupta or Narasimhagupta Bālāditya, *i.e.*, 146·5 grains. Three such coins in the British Museum weigh 81·7, 86·5 and 92.5 grains. Many such coins have been collected for the Dacca Museum by Mr. Nalinikanta Bhattasali, M.A., during recent years. These coins are found in the districts of Dacca and Faridpur for the most part. In 1925-26 similar coins were discovered at Sabhar in the Northern part of the Dacca district and purchased for the Indian Museum, Calcutta. These coins generally show the figure of the king standing on the obverse with the letter Śrī and a horse, and a standing or seated goddess with a meaningless copy of a legend in Gupta characters on the reverse. The best preserved coin in the collection of the British Museum is described by Allan in the following words:--