Picked me up a cheap little "snack" the other day, and after a good bit of time in hand I may have bit off more than I can chew. Here is what I know for certain: Area: India - Western Satraps Ruler: ? Reigned: ? Denomination: AR Drachm Obverse: Bust of ? right Reverse: Chaitya (3-arched hill), river below, crescent moon and sun above, Brahmi legend around Reference: Weight: 1.9 gms Diameter: 13.8 mm ** I stink at reading Brahmi Script! Here is what I think: ** After giving up on reading the Brahmi script I figured the only way to determine whose portrait is shown on the coin was to make a match. I found the Western Kshatrapas page on the coinindia.com website and proceeded to go through each of the rulers -- finally I think I found a match: Dāmajādasri III as mahakshatrapa then I found this auction listing which has a pretty good pictures. I think it is a match, but I need some reassurance from all of you before I call it. Any Brahmi script readers here or experts on ancient India coinage? Would love some input and if you have any Western Kshatrapas or ancient India coins post 'em up. -d
If you really want to read these coins, and many other Eastern issues, the book you want is Greek, Semitic, Asiatic Coins And How To Read Them, by Richard J. Plant. I took a pic of the page that expounds on the Brahmi. I will not deceive you into thinking it's easy. I'm not fluent with these types - I've only read a few, and I have to compare every figure on the coin with Plant's text and his subsequent examples. Sometimes it's impossible to narrow down the ruler by inscription alone, if the coin is struck in such a way that only the titles show. At any rate, knock yourself out... There are a couple members of the forum that could look at your coin and tell you immediately what it was. I am not one of them.
The attribution to Damajadasri III is correct. These coins are not so difficult to attribute with some practice. Starting point is that the legend always has the same buildup. It names the ruler and his father with titles so: "RaJno MaHaKsaTraPaSa DaMaJaDaSriYa RaJno MaHaKsaTraPaSa DaMaSeNa PuTraSa" Where "RaJno MaHaKsaTraPaSa" = King, great Satrap DaMaJaDaSriYa = Name of Ruler DaMaSeNa PuTraSa = Son of Damasena. At about 3 o'clock on your coin is the "SriYa RaJno" part of the legend, that is enough for attribution. For another nice tutorial look here: http://people.bu.edu/ptandon/WK-Legends.pdf Here one of mine (different ruler) with an overlay of the legend:
Just wanted to add my emphatic second to @John Anthony's book recommendation. I have this book, and have found it to be incredibly useful. Get it with the same author's "Arabic Coins and How to Read Them", and you'll be set!
Not quite, there´s been a reprint not so long ago: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Greek-Semitic-Asiatic-Coins-Read/dp/094896412X
For anyone who likes some practice: here another Western Satrap. His name is clearly readable in the legend. In addition, the year of manufacture is also present behind the portrait of the ruler.
@John Anthony & @Parthicus - Thank you both for the book recommendations - I picked up the Arabic coins volume for 28 bucks - still looking for the Greek, Semitic, Asiatic Coins volume and suppose I'll have to eventually shell out the $$ for one. @THCoins thank you very much for the reply and confirmation that I got the attribution correct. What makes this seem even more difficult for me is that the lettering on the coin seems to differ somewhat from the written script I've been finding online. When I have a bit of time I'm going to work up an overlay similar to your example. Many, many thanks to you all! -Doug
There is not one standard Brahmi. There are quite some variations over time and geographic locations. Over the 2 centuries this series was produced the script also changed a bit over time. On the coins of some later rulers (like the overlayed i showed) there also is some degeneration of the inscription style. If you really want to learn the details of these, you could buy the monography by Alex Fishman. To illustrate the complexity of the script here the variation of just one character "Ya":
