I admit right up front that I am wildly inexperienced with ancients, and frankly, most coins older than the 1700's. But, I am slowly digging through my miscellaneous accumulation and must thus face my limitations and my fears. (Oh no!) What is this? So, I come requesting wisdom and enlightenment. Please be gentle. (And thank you!)
Info is below, they are VERY common. Western Kshatrapas: Rudrasimha I (178 - 197 A.D.) O: Head of king right. R. Chaitya (3-arched hill), river below, crescent moon and sun above, Brahmi legend around
Ah, fascinating. I had no idea. Thank you. What is the denomination? Can you suggest an online Western Kshatrapas coin reference? And... any value at all?
Denomination would be a Drachm. Ref: Alexander Fishman, The Silver Coinage of the Western Satraps in India Value, maybe $10-$20.
I see Mat has identified the drachm (right-hand coin) already. I'm sorry, but I don't know what that coin is on the left.
A good site for these coins is Zeno.ru. They don't give catalog numbers but they show lots of examples. For Rudrasimha I start at https://www.zeno.ru/showgallery.php?cat=7983 The nice thing about these coins is that they are dated to the year of issue. The date is on the obverse behind the head. To read them, try to follow the instructions by Pankaj Tandon at http://people.bu.edu/ptandon/WK-Legends.pdf . For this reason, when picking these out of a junk tray, everyone should go for ones with clear inscriptions to the left of the head, and ignore examples with missing dates. Like Buffalo nickels, losing the date ruins the fun for a lot of people. For example, here is mine: Western Satraps, Vijayasena (238-250 AD), 2.16g, drachm, 14mm Obv: Bust of Vijayasena, with corrupted Greek legend, date in Brahmi numerals behind (169 Saka Era = 247 AD) Rev: Three-arched hill or Chaitya, with river, crescent and sun, within legend in Brahmi Rajno Mahaksatrapasa Damasenasaputrasa Rajnah Ksatrapasa Vijayasanasa ("of Raja Satrap Vijayasena, son of Raja Mahasatrap Damasena") I paid $11 for this coin from a dealer who had a box of them, $11 to pick. Hopefully I got the date right -- I haven't posted this coin before.
I believe the one on the left is Abrahamus, dated 196AD. Check for yourself. Must have been one of the later provinces...?
Thank you for your info, and your response time! (Oddly enough, I don't actually have that particular volume on my shelf...) Lovely to know its origins.
