The only coins in history to feature the Buddha.

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by Loong Siew, Apr 2, 2019.

  1. Loong Siew

    Loong Siew Well-Known Member

    An extremely rare 1/4 unit drachm of Kanishka I featuring the image of Shakyamuni Buddha "The historical Buddha". These are also the 1st and only coins in history to feature the image of the Buddha until modern times.
    Inscriptions surrounding the Buddha image:
    CAKAMA "Shakyamuni"... BOYΔO "Buddha". Choice with full portrait of Kanishka and the Buddha

    Kushan Empire. 127-150CE. Northern India and Afghanistan.

    Although Kanishka copper coins are fairly common, the ones featuring and honouring the Buddha is extremely rare on some accounts estimated to less than 1% of all Kanishka issued coins. His Buddha coins come in 3 denominations of bronze and 1 in gold. All featured various depictions of the Buddha either standing or in 1 tetradrachm the Maitreya Boddhisattva in seated position. Amongst the Buddha issues, the smaller denominations (I.e. 1/4 and 1/2 units) are even rarer. Being a strong patron and supporter of Buddhism, he saw and organised the 4th Buddhist Council which saw the significant developments in the codification of the Mahayana School of Buddhism.

    It was believed that the rarity of these Buddha coins were due to them being commemorative issues for the establishment of a Stupa in his Kingdom or in conjunction with the council. All except the gold issues have rather poor strikes and conditions.

    20190402_195513.jpg
     
    Last edited: Apr 2, 2019
  2. Avatar

    Guest User Guest



    to hide this ad.
  3. panzerman

    panzerman Well-Known Member

    There are some AV Dinara too.....really $$$$:(
     
    Loong Siew likes this.
  4. Loong Siew

    Loong Siew Well-Known Member

    Yes.. The gold Dinars.. Way out of my budget.. even these AE ones are premium $$$
     
  5. Roman Collector

    Roman Collector Well-Known Member

    Fascinating! The best part of CT is learning about coins outside of one's area of collecting. Thanks for posting this and teaching about its significance.
     
  6. panzerman

    panzerman Well-Known Member

    Yes sadly that is so true. I could only afford one with Moon God "Mao" 1fb461a100d9bdea6c834f9b113eb525.jpg 539ea2538bb1d68c4b9b84a5ba02e738.jpg
     
    TIF, chrsmat71, Parthicus and 10 others like this.
  7. Loong Siew

    Loong Siew Well-Known Member

    Thanks @Roman Collector .. I dont have much Greek and Roman coins in my collection so I can only share and post these
     
    7Calbrey and Roman Collector like this.
  8. Loong Siew

    Loong Siew Well-Known Member

    Wow.. That's a splendid Kanishka Dinar.. I don't even have a diner of Kanishka.. The only one I have was from his descendant Vasudeva.. That is a beauty..:woot:
     
  9. panzerman

    panzerman Well-Known Member

    Thanks, that one was a bargain, and one of few coins from Heritage that was a raw graded MS:happy:
     
    Loong Siew likes this.
  10. Loong Siew

    Loong Siew Well-Known Member

    I was looking high and low for the Kanishka Buddha coins.. Saw once or twice offered on CNG but the price bid went way out of my budget in the Thousands and out of my expectation. Thankfully patience paid off and I finally secured this piece which in my opinion is pretty choice for type. Accordingly, the smaller denominations are rarer than the larger tetradrachms. I'm hoping to one day acquire decent tet specimens if possible :happy:
     
    TypeCoin971793, Finn235 and panzerman like this.
  11. Finn235

    Finn235 Well-Known Member

    Very nice specimen! For now, I only have a few Kushan bronzes and one Heraios obol, although a nice gold stater is on my bucket list!

    It is rather curious how rare Buddha is on Indian coinage... I suppose the emphasis was more on the other symbology rather than the Buddha as a person?
     
    Loong Siew and panzerman like this.
  12. Loong Siew

    Loong Siew Well-Known Member

    The Kushan Empire honoured many gods which were adhered to by the people.. Hindu and central Asian. The Buddha was never regarded as divinity and his images were unknown until the Greeks started stylistically depict him in Gandharan art. Kanishka however was a devout patron and thus these coins were only issued in very limited numbers as a form of commemorative issues. It was a departure from the tenets of Buddhism to depict images of the Buddha outside of symbolism..
     
    Finn235 and panzerman like this.
  13. Alegandron

    Alegandron "ΤΩΙ ΚΡΑΤΙΣΤΩΙ..." ΜΕΓΑΣ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΣ, June 323 BCE

    upload_2019-4-2_11-7-18.png
    India- Shakya Janapada AR 5-Shana 6th-5th C BCE Buddha Ref-Hiramo-I-8-29
     
    TIF, Parthicus, Ancientnoob and 4 others like this.
  14. Loong Siew

    Loong Siew Well-Known Member

    Yup.. This belonged to his home and lifetime .. Awesome coin :woot:
     
    panzerman and Alegandron like this.
  15. Alegandron

    Alegandron "ΤΩΙ ΚΡΑΤΙΣΤΩΙ..." ΜΕΓΑΣ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΣ, June 323 BCE

    Thank you @Loong Siew ! It is special to me. I understand less than 20 are known?

    This is a site I enjoyed... and yes, I walked ALL of the steps up and down... this is also the largest Buddha in the world.

    upload_2019-4-2_11-40-25.png
    upload_2019-4-2_11-41-23.png
     
    Last edited: Apr 2, 2019
    TIF, Parthicus, Rich Buck and 8 others like this.
  16. Loong Siew

    Loong Siew Well-Known Member


    Great pictures.. Glad you really enjoyed it.. I do not really know the number of issues though.. :)
     
  17. ancient coin hunter

    ancient coin hunter 3rd Century Usurper

    What a cool and interesting coin. I'll share the Kamakura Buddha - in Japan.

    [​IMG]
     
    TIF, Parthicus, Rich Buck and 4 others like this.
  18. Ancientnoob

    Ancientnoob Money Changer

    Love the Buddha!!!

    Shakya Janapada AR 5-Shana 6-5th century BC
    BudC.jpg
    Magadha Karshapana 6-5th century BC
    KarshapanaC.jpg
    and a Bodi tree from Ananthapura, Taprobane mid 3rd century BC
    BoTreeC.jpg
     
  19. Loong Siew

    Loong Siew Well-Known Member

     
    Alegandron likes this.
  20. Ancientnoob

    Ancientnoob Money Changer

    You can't have an Indian collection without a Bimbisara karshapana. Everyone knows that. ;)
     
    Alegandron and Loong Siew like this.
  21. Loong Siew

    Loong Siew Well-Known Member

    Absolutely man.. totally agree.. wouldn't know or have heard about it if not for your ori post on your specimen
     
    ancient coin hunter likes this.
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page