A dealer friend I know who specializes in Canadian decimals asked me to identify and price out a few "ancient" coins for him. As it happens, what I have been learning about ancient coins is mostly about ancient Greek coins, with a bit about ancient Roman. For the record, even though I'm Canadian, the dealer is actually not me. That said, I think helping him is a good opportunity for me to learn about ancient/medieval coinage. He's also a genuinely nice fellow I've known for over ten years, so there's that, too. Using Doug Smit's page at https://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/bh.html, I think this is a "bull and horseman" jital "Spalapati Deva" coin from ancient Afghanistan, but I'm not sure if I've identified it correctly as Spalapati Deva. It's about 17 mm in diameter. A second coin, but in a lower grade, is below: If anyone can help me with more precise identification, and especially with values, however approximate, please do respond. Other comments are also very welcome.
I bought one of these a while back for $5 unidentified online and then sold it for $30 on Numista because it didn’t really fit my collection. It was a Khudarayaka. I’m no expert in this area but I think usually these are around $15 in average condition but this one is pretty nice so I’d price it around $25-$30. Good luck
The first coin is indeed the Spalapati Deva type, struck at Kabul by the Turk Shahi dynasty, c. 750-900. The Brahmi letter above the horse's rump is unclear but the coin is probably Tye 5. The second is the Samanta Deva type, struck by the Hindu Shahi dynasty, c. 850-1000, possibly at Ohind in the Punjab. Tye 14. Both common. Value $10-20 each.
Thank you, dltsrq! I appreciate that very much. This is an area of history I know nothing at all about, so this information from you is most helpful.
Here's my Samanta Deva type, the only jital in my collection, and a gift from my dear wife : LOCAL ISSUES, Kabul. Shahis (Shahiyas). Samanta Deva, circa 850-1000. Jital (Silver, 19 mm, 3.37 g, 5 h). SRI SAMANTA DEVA ('Lord Samanta Deva' in Nagari) Zebu recumbent to left with symbol on rump; in field to left, star above pellet. Rev. Rider facing on horseback to right, holding banner in his left hand; in field to left, 'bhi' (in Nagari). Tye 14 Q
I haven’t come far in identifying my own similar coins, but aside Dougs page, the most useful site I’ve found on them so far is a vcoins store: https://www.vcoins.com/en/stores/ga..._desc&countitems=12&changeDisplayList=&page=1 My theory so far is that this is: Chauhans of Delhi and Ajmer Prithviraja III (c. 1149-1192) Billon jital (16 mm, 3.38 g) Obverse: Horseman right, with Devanagari legend Sri Pri/thviraja Deva around Reverse: Bull seated left, with Devanagari legend Asavari Sri Samanta Devaaround I may be totally wrong, but I’m a:
The last one is from Delhi, but under the name of Chahada Deva. The "Cha" is off flan behind the back of the horseman. The "HaDa DeVa" is around the head of the horse. You may note that the Da and De look very disimilar. The De is formed by the "fishhook" opening to the right which forms a Da. The attached spike to the left of this is the vowel modificator which makes it a De. The Da of Chahada is the hook opening to the left. This illustrates that the Indic languages have different types of the Da sound. One similar to that in English, and one pronounced with the tongue curled back against the palate.