Hi guys As you can see from my avatar, one series of coins I collect are the Kashmir kaserahs. I thought I'd just post one to see what the interest is in these coins, as for the last year I've been researching them as I believe the die /punch dia is between 24-25mm ,alot bigger than the coin flan of 18mm,and have re-constructed the images to show the full design.Let me know if you want me to post the research? The coin below shows Abhimanyu AD 958-972 .Son of Kshemagupta and Didda Rani Approx 18mm dia and 5.8gr The infant son of Kshema Gupta,he ruled for fourteen years under Didda as regent but then was killed by her. Saludos Paul
Nice one, much nicer than mine. I'll add a coin of Abhimanyu's son Nandigupta who succeeded him in 972 but did not last a year under grandma Didda's loving care. Most of my coins of this type (and those of the Lankan type with similar fabric) came from a $5 pickout box of them at a Baltimore show several years ago. Most of them were Didda and other commons but there were a couple other ones. I have not tried to add others to my 'set'. You might be one to ask the question for which I never found a satisfactory answer: Is the below a cast fake of Kshemagupta and Didda or a smaller denomination? At 3.2g it is about half size? It was mixed in with all the rest so I bought it just because it was different. I wish now I had bought more of the common ones. They varied from nice to absolute junk. Mostly I bought just one per type but I wanted the extra Didda below because the off center reverse showed a letter at the right the well centered ones lacked.
I would like to collect this coin series. Unfortunately I cannot read the Nagari script, so I have ended up with a Didda Rani, 2 Kalaśa, Jaya Simha, and 2 Jaga Deva. I think this coin is in high grade but I am not certain. It seems much better preserved than my other Kashmir staters. I am not sure what to compare it to. Kashmir, Lohara dynasty, Jaga Deva 1198-1213 AD, bronze 6.0g AE18.5 Obv: Ardoxsho=Lakshmi; Nagari legend: 'Ja' left and 'Ga' right., Rev: standing king.
Doug your obverse of the Didda Rani reads..the dda is off flan. The reverse at 5 oclock reads.. I do think the smaller coin looks cast the lightest I've come across was 4.9gr Over the next couple of days hopefully I will post here some information that I think you will be interested in..Paul
Ed, Yes thats a nice coin ,good detail showing some of the facial features. I'd like to see your other coins please.I've taught myself how to read nagari,I hasten to add,at a basic level, so if there are any you need deciphering let me know. Saludos Paul
Cool! Maybe you guys can help me with mine, I think I have it messed up. Mine is a Jaga Deva like Ed's. Do I have my obverse and reverse mixed up? So on my reverse (right), I assume my sybmols are "JA" on the right of the figure that kind of looks like an "E" and "GA" is the symbol that looks like "Pi" symbol with a kinked left leg?
@Chris No-one really knows which is obverse or reverse I stick with Lashmi and the rulers name as the obverses and the king as the reverse so your coin wuold be the other way round..but it doesn't really make any difference.Your symbols are correct and on your obverse at 5 oclock you can see the "de "of "deva".BTW Nice coin! Paul
Here's one of mine.. Ananta (AD. 1028 – 1076) After the death of Samgrama his eldest son Hari Raja took the title but died after a reign of only 22 days.And so his younger brother Ananta ascended to the throne. The period of rule by Ananta was characterised by royal profligacy; he accumulated debts so large that it was necessary to sell the royal diadem,but his wealthy wife queen Surajmati intervened and the situation was improved. She was able to settle the debts incurred by her husband by use of her own resources and she also oversaw the appointment of ministers with the ability to stabilise the government.In 1063, she forced Ananta to abdicate in favour of their son, Kalasa. This was probably in order to preserve the dynasty but the strategy proved not to be successful because of Kalasa's own unsuitability. It was then arranged that Ananta was effective king even though his son held the title.This caused great friction between father and son until in 1076 Ananta overcome with rage, despair, and the wickedness of his wife comitted suicide.
@dougsmit...If its ok with you I have someone I converse with in India so I'll send yor photos of the small coin and see if he can clarify anything?? Is the dia. about 9mm?? Paul
OK but it is 15mm. The coin is thinner and more worn than my others. Have you seen any/many 'unofficial' coins of this group? This was the only one of similar fabric in the box which had several hundred coins of Kashmir ranging from Kshemagupta to Ananta.
I cannot read Nagari. I can struggle through identifying these with Richard Plant's book on Semitic and Asiatic coins. Modern computers support Indian characters. For these next two I managed to get the Nagari king names into my description file. It would be nice if someone could put up a web page on these with all of the Nagari so I could just cut and paste instead of struggling. Didda Rani, AE18, 5.88g obv: सॊ दिदा (Nagari Sri Didda); Ardoxsho=Lakshmi rev: Nagari DEVa; standing queen Mitchiner NIS 177-178. Kashmir, Lohara dynasty, Kalaśa 1063-1089 AD, bronze AE20 6.18g obv: कलस (Nagari "KaLaSa"); Ardoxsho=Lakshmi rev: DEVa; standing king Wikipedia has a nice page on the dynasty for those interested in its history. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lohara_dynasty
@ominus1..Nice coin!..But it is in fact "Kalasa".the son of Ananta.. Kalasa 1076-1089 - His father Ananta abdicated due to Suryamati's (his mother's) blind affection for their son. Kalasa proved disloyal to his parents and his frustrated father committed suicide. His mother threw herself on his funeral pyre. Kalasa spent the rest of his life conquering and raiding neighbouring kingdoms such as Urasa and Abhaya. Kalasa had two sons Utkarsha and Harsha. During Kalasa's final days Harsha attempted a rebellion which was surpressed and Harsha imprisoned. On Kalasa's death his other son Utkarsha became king... Here's one of mine.. OK but it is 15mm. @dougsmit Ahhh ok! When you said half the size I took it literally sorry! I will send the photos to the guy and see what he says.My gut still tells me there's something not right,but forgeries per se are quite easy to spot as the design is really crude! Maybe yours was a test piece?Is there something I can't see that screams casting to you?It's obviously very worn and on a somewhat cropped flan so maybe these 2 factors could reduce the weight by say 1,8gr.I'll see what I can find out. It definitely pertains to be a Kshemagupta AD 950-958 Saludos Paul
@Ed Snible ...Again nice coins and the attributions are correct,thanks for posting When I post my research thread I'll include the scripts ,obverse and reverse, of each coin maybe this will help Saludos Paul
My only Indian coin is a bronze Didda Rani, which I purchased recently from John Anthony (the photo is his) Æ 19 - 5.5g Obv.: Ardoxsho enthroned facing Rev.: Queen standing
Nice coins guys !,I'm glad there's some interest out there. Here's my set so far with a couple on the way to fill some holes