Yesterday a friend show me some gold Gupta coins, very interesting and personally I find them very artistic and different. Not so cheap. For the budget I prefer a silver Greek or Roman coins or beautiful Byzantines solidus.
Sure, there are very expensive rare Gupta types. But i agree, they also have a high artistic value. Compared to the Roman Aurei, the more common Gupta gold can be had still very cheaply i'd think. ChandraGupta:
For those of us on a budget that does not allow gold, there are Gupta silvers which are small and cheap but look nothing like the gold shown here. Kumaragupta I 414-455 AD 12mm AR drachm 2.0g /Garuda bird another? 2.3g different legend ID? Skandragupta 455-467 AD 13mm 1.9g /resting bull right
While I don't have any Gupta coins, it's interesting how different their silver and gold currencies were. The gold imitates a Kushan style, while the silver imitates an Indo-Scythian/Western Satraps style. I guess it's just a matter of what contemporary currencies they were exposed to; since the Kushans didn't produce much silver currency, silver produced by the Satraps must've filled that gap in the economy, which led the Guptas to copy it.
Agree with @dougsmit...The silvers are quite cheap...There's a recent hoard of these that have been drip fed on ebay over the last few weeks. Kumaragupta I, c. 415-455 Weight: 2.1gr, Diameter: 12/14 mm. Obverse- Head of king right Reverse- Stylized Garuda standing facing, with wings spread, sun above right, Brahmin legend around: 'Paramabhagavata Maharajadhiraja Sri Kumaragupta Mahendraditya' @THCoins...Thats a beauty!
Chandragupta uniting India and fighting with Alexander's legacy Generals...created the first Indian Empire. Alexander's battle of Hydaspes against Porus really showed the mettle of the Indian Empire to come! India Maurya ser VIB AR Karshapana punchmark 270-175 BCE ASHOKA
I love a lot the first coin, I follow a art history course at university and I learnt that the celts have artistic and trade exchange with some Indian civilisation not only Greek or Roman. This coi;have a bit of Celtic inspiration for obverse it seems ? We have some much to learn about some civilisation.
The Gupta empire has a fascinating history and produced some of the most beautiful coins of the subcontinent. A gold Gupta stater is on my "someday" list, although the ones that really capture my fancy are pretty pricey coins. I do have some Gupta drachms that I consider to be among the most desirable in terms of style and completeness Sadly, probably 95% of this type is Kumaragupta; Skandagupta's Garuda drachms are scarce, and Chandragupta's are rare. (Name off flan, but probably Kumaragupta) Kumaragupta I apparently still need to image my skandagupta drachms, but I feel the need to share this one, not minted by imperial Guptas, but by their feudatories - these are beautiful coins and can be had for a fraction of the price of an Imperial Gupta stater Sarabhapuryas, Prasannamitra 5th-6th century AV bracteate
This one was actually my first ancient coin: INDIA, WESTERN KHSATRAPAS, Bhartdaman . Denomination: AR drachm, minted: uncertain mint; 278-295 AD Obv: Head of Bhartdaman, legend around is missing Rev: Rajno mahakshatrapasa rudrasenaputrasa rajnah kshatrapasa bhartrdamnah. ("[coin of] the sun of king and mahasatrap Rudrasena, king and satrap Bhatrdaman") Weight: 2.25g; Ø:1.4mm. Catalogue: not found. Provenance: Ex private collection; acq.: 07-2017 Bhartrdāman was the second of two sons of Rudrasena II who came to the throne. He started to issue coins as kshatrapa in the year S. 200, which was the last year that his father was still in power. At the time, his brother Visvasena had been issuing coins as kshatrapa for a few years, and he continued to do so for two more years before claiming the title of mahakshatrapa in 201 or 202. Bhartrdāman issued coins as kshatrapa until 204, at which point he started issuing coins as mahakshatrapa. The mahakshatrapa series continued uninterrupted until S. 217 (= 295 CE). INDIA, WESTERN KHSATRAPAS, Rudrasena II. Denomination: AR drachm, minted: uncertan; 256–278 AD Obv: Head of king to the right; date not visible Rev: Chaitya (3-arched hill), river below, crescent moon and sun above, Brahmi legend around (rajno kshatrapasa viradamaputrasa rajno mahakshatrapasa rudrasenasa) Weight: 0g; Ø:mm. Catalogue: uncertain. Provenance: Ex private collectoin; acq.: 05-2019 Rudrasena II came to the throne in S. 177, presumably at the death of his uncle Dāmajāadasri III. His father, Viradāman, had ruled from 156 to 160, but as kshatrapa only and Rudrasena II's coins reflect this ... they name his father as kshatrapa. Rudrasena II had a long reign by Kshatrapa standards - 24 years. His earliest coins are dated 177, and coins of his are known for every year from then to 200 (278 CE). Late in his reign, in 197, his son Visvasimha started issuing coins as kshatrapa.
Actually, it seem to me more like the relationship between Byzantium and Venice. The Guptas were a more hierarchical and hieratic inland agrarian culture and favoured a high value gold standard coins, the Western Satraps more ocean traders and favoured more commercially useful smaller silver. When the Guptas conquered the Western Satraps they kept the region separate as a monetary zone and tried to continue the local silver standard - but wrecked it after a few generations. The situation was near exactly the reverse in the West as recall - it was the the maritime Venetians who conquered the more agrarian Byzantines, but I do not recall it turned out well for the Byz currency in that case either Rob T
I like Gupta coinage/ many reverse designs. Over past years, many hoards of these have been found in India. Pricesshould start coming down for some of the more pricey designs like the "Tiger Slayer" etc.