Age of the Nandas and Mauryas c10.11.3

c10.11.3

The obverse of these coins shows the head of the king to right within dotted border, wearing close-fitting helmet and cheek-plate, the former adorned with a wreath of olive leaves ; on the reverse is shown a cock to right with a caduceus on the left field and the Greek legend ΣΝΦΥΤΟΥ on the right, all inside a border of dots. The coins are struck from regularly adjusted dies (↓↑) and usually bear a monogram consisting of the Greek letter M or MN; their approximate weight is 58 grains. These coins are of great interest as they are without doubt based on the imitations of the Athenian ‘owls’ which seem to have been somewhat familiar in or just outside the north-western border of India at that time. The discovery of a unique tri-hemiobol, now in the Berlin Museum, bearing the helmeted head of Athena in place of that of Sophytes, apart from most other numismatic features, definitely proves the connection between the two sets of coins. The weight of Sophytes’ coins, which according to earlier numismatists was derived from the Indian *dharana* or *purāṇa* (silver punch-marked coins weighing 32 ratis, roughly 58 grains) has now been shown by Macdonald and others to be the same as that of the imitations; it has been described as a lighter Attic standard sometimes adopted by moneyers in their issue of such coins in the east¹.