Won this one off of ebay about two months ago, was just getting worried that it wouldn't make it out of customs but it arrived today! India, Malwa Ca. Time of Jaitra Simha (fl. 1275) Billon Gadhaiya Obv: Degenerate Gadhaiya type bust, uncertain hair bun type, regular ear, six-rayed star replaces eye, conch shape replaces nose Rev: Battle scene with horseback rider on leaping horse over fallen enemy, engaging enemy in front, six-rayed star sun. Unpublished and apparently unique Battle scene coins are an especially popular type of Gadhaiya with collectors, and the fact that they typically have a regular ear instead of the nagari letter Ja points to them being an earlier iteration than the slightly more common Omkara coins. Previously it was thought that there were only four types of "eye" for these coins: Plain dot Dot with line (This one actually has two eye symbols, but that is a -whole- other thread) Crescent And circle, which I will have to get an image from Maheshwari's book because I have never seen one for sale. This is apparently the first known example of one with a star eye, and importantly the engraver also decided to replace the sun with a similar star; normally the sun (when visible) is a hollow circle The only other coins that utilize a star like this one to my knowledge are a very small and rare series of Omkara drachm; I have one with an eight rayed star And one with a more simple six-rayed star What all this means is that perhaps there is less of a gap between the "earlier" battle scene types and the "later" Omkara types than originally thought!
Very interesting set of coins. Thanks for posting/ fine history lesson. I have only one coin from Malwa from Islamic period.
Wow, @Finn235 ... I did not know there were so many varieties. Interesting set of coins, and congrats on your unique find! Those cool starry eyes!
