The Age of the Imperial Guptas c10.2

c10.2

With the rise of the Gupta empire there was a reformation of the currency in Northern India and the current coinage was modified by Samudragupta, the second monarch of the Gupta dynasty. Coins of Candragupta 1, are known in sufficiently large number but it is extremely doubtful whether they were issued by the king whose name they bear. This idea is Allan’s, and his grounds are that instead of being of the Later Kushan type, they are actually of the type of Samudragupta. “The earliest Gupta coins follow the standard of their late Kushan prototypes. Ten well preserved coins of Samudragupta’s Standard type average 118·9 grains (highest 120·6 and 121), four of the archer type 118·1 (highest 120), six of the Candragupta I type, 119 grains (highest 121 and 123), two of the Kāca type (most specimen of which are worn), 117·6 (highest 118), five of the Lyrist type, 118·6 (highest 120·7 and 120) six of the Aśvamedha type, 118·3 grains. These figures agree very well with the weights of the late Kushan coins of the third century which run from 118 to 122 grains. With the types and standard of their northern neighbours the Guptas seem also to have adopted the name dīnāra, by which these coins were known to the Kushans this name is to be traced to the Roman solidus. The variations of four to six grains in well preserved specimens of the same type of Samudragupta’s coin may be due to variations of the standard in different districts, but it probably shows that little effort was made to strike the coins accurately on a particular standard, and that they were considered rather as medals than coins. This standard may be defined as of about 121 grains.”¹