Got Ancient Indian Coins??

On another note I would recommend watching "The Story of India" on Netflix if you have it. Its quite fascinating and I saw a couple of coins I own in the documentary. Very interesting, I watched it like 3 times.

I am of no authority as to what is and is not India, but I would suggest consulting the map as I do.

I would say anything east of the Indus as "India" ...?

 

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Hello, I am hoping someone can help me with the proper identification of two coins from the Takṣaśilā (Taxila) region (maybe the larger Gandharan region). I have looked at at least 500 - 1000 examples already, and do not believe I have found these. You may need to download and examine the images with greater zoom. I would be very grateful for any help to get them right, thank you, Greg C. Brown, MS, ISA.

 

Greg-

These crude coins can be very difficult to attribute as you well know, and many of the styles and themes are recurring in the area.

Coin #2 I believe is a bronze di-drachm or drachm depending on weight of Huvishka I 152 - 192 ad. I am looking for the "Tamgha" (the kings unique reagle symbol )the device to the of the standing figure (Goddess Shiva with 2 arms). The reverse is the king riding an elephant. Kushan Empire.

Coin #1 Is quite peculiar and might require further investigation diameter and weight (both of each coin would be a big help) I think it might be from the Sunga Kingdom 197 - 175 BC?

Medoraman might be able to elaborate a little more than I. Hope this can at least point you in the right direction. Good luck.

 

Thank you very much for your kind and thoughtful reply. So, I had several aspects correct, including the approximate dating estimate, which I am proud of, as I am not a coin guy. I can ask the person for the weight, which I do not have, if it is very necessary, is it? Coin 1 is about 3.2 cm (largest) x 1.5 cm (smallest) x 2.6 cm for the "diameters". Coin 2's diameter is ~2.3 cm. Is there any place to look for estimated values? I have found nothing in coins "similar" to these over a few hundred dollars, most, significantly less.

 

I am fairly certain that coin 2 is an iteration of this coin, Huvishka Kushan Kingdom. 152-192 AD, AE Tetradrachm 11.73 gr, 26.32 mm.
Obv: PAO NANO PAO OOHPKE KOPANO, King, diademed and nimbate, riding right on elephant, holding spear and goad.Rev: MAO, female deity standing left, holding cornucopiae in both hands; tamgha of Huvishka to left.BMC 153; Whitehead 146.With permission of TimeLine Originals (www.time-lines.co.uk), June, 2011

 

The one thing I am noticing about coin one, relative to your suggestion that it might be Sunga Kingdom 197 - 175 BC, is that these bronze coins from the Sunga tend to have the chaitya/three-arched hill with the crescent, while this coin does not - it is much more complex than that... I hope that your friend Medoraman will assist me in this one, as I think it is going to be much more difficult. I will get to the bottom of this with a help - thank you!

 

Greg-
I sent him a PM to check this out when he gets on.

I did do some more early morning searching, and I must admit this coin#1 poses a significant challenge.

I did stumble upon some coins that are very similar.

Check out Nagas of Narwar ca. 200 - 340 AD.

I couldn't make an exact match but the motif appears to be similar, Bull or horse left with crude Brahmi script reverse. Similar to these offered by one of my fav sellers.

I still might be grasping at straws but in hindsight I think this is a better match.

http://www.numismall.com/acc/Nagas-of-Narwar-ca.200-340-AD-c-11519/

 

Taxila is a very, very difficult location to place coins. In the 2nd to 7th centuries it was one of the major crossroads of the world. It seems about every major power in central asia and India controlled the palce for a period of time. Situated where it is, and having the recurring theme of central asian powers becoming displaced and pushed into India, Taxila was constantly changing hands.

No books cover this series very well. Michiner of course has tons, but his dating and attributions have been preempted many times in modern day. Most new activity in the area is being published in papers like ONS and journals.

If I had to guess on coin #1, I would look possibly at Kidarite. SMAST cave complex gave us a ton of new bronze types. Maybe something related to SMAST research would give us an idea.

Sorry I could not be of more help.

 

Just to be different, I have to suggest a completely different attribution for the first coin. I seem to see a Persian script on it, which suggests to me that this is one of the anonymous civic coppers of the 16th-19th centuries.

 

1) Thanks Ancientnoob, Medoraman and Ardatiron for all the input so far. 2) I had commented earlier that I did not think this was a Sunga Kingdom coin, because the bronze ones seem to generally have the 3 hills motif and this one does not, so your second suggestion might be better Ancientnoob. I will look into Kiderite, SMAST and Nagas of Narwar and the Persian direction too if I am getting no where. 3) One thing to note is that there is a "crossing" of two elements under and between the legs of the horse/ox/etc. on coin 1 - this is distinctive compared to all other examples I have looked at so far. If I can find even one like that, I think it will lead to the answer. 4) My new comment was going to be, that I have found that none of these seem to go for much more than $20.00 each, and so this is more for my curiosity rather than potential appraisal work for my client. At this point, I just want to know... Thank you all!

 

With the Nagas or Narwar coinage, there is one good similarity, the horses (animals) are generally facing left and are riderless - similar to this coin. However, there are three important differences. 1) The horses (animals) at are more "rounded" in form, 2) There is no line (cross) coming up between their legs, and 3) There are no dots, under the chin and between the legs on them, as there are on this coin. Very hard, this one!

 

I agree with you, that as close I can get with my limited knowledge. :yes:

You really got us on this one. Kudos! If you ever do find out what it is- you better let me know! HAHA. Thanks for the challenge.

 

Anceintnoob, thanks for helping. Am I right to believe that most of these kinds of coins are worth about 20 bucks? If I ever figure it out, I will post and show the comparable coin! It is really hard for me to let go of getting to the bottom of this!

 

Can you get us better pictures on the first one? The angle makes it a bit difficult to see.

 

Probably between 20 and 40 dollars. They are generally pretty obscure, so far I have only talked to about 5-6 people who know anything about the coins. There is virtually no collector base for them, but that may change as Ancient coin collecting gains steam as it has in the last 10 years or so.
I urge you to keep up the hunt- that is where the magic is. If you can reshoot the coin, we can try again. We will persevere, my friend.

 

True. Part of the problem is there is just so many bloody cultures in that part of the world, there have so many new discoveries, so many reclassifications, that there is not a "firm base" on which to base collecting on. As such, there are just tons of coins from Taxila with not many collectors which pursue them yet. I do view it like AN does, once more good references are out there, i believe more collectors will find the series.

 

Okay guys, check this out! I thought at the very beginning that the horse was actually a dear or elk... This coin, from Afghanistan, is the most similar by far as coin 1. It is not exactly the same, but BOTH sides are very similar! I think this is a different iteration of the same coin 1! What do you guys think? http://www.ebay.com/itm/Afghanistan...2819818?pt=US_World_Coins&hash=item3cd17f516a

 

This one is even closer, not the exact same, but nearly, right up to the loop (character) over the back of the animal! Thanks for getting me on the right path guys! http://www.numismall.com/CyberNumis/Qunduz.html