Had this one cooking in my mind for a while, figure its finally time to put it down on a thread, given a few recent purchases. One of the earlier mysteries of the early Indo Sassanian series that vexed me is where exactly to draw the line between the earliest series of Peroz imitations (series 1.1) and the later, more standardized issues that would eventually become the Gadhaiya coins (series 1.2). I finally feel that I can convincingly illustrate this evolution to a relative degree of certainty. We'll start with arguably the most common type - Line Style I, or series 1.1.6. Probably a familiar sight to anyone well-versed in Indo-Sassanian coins, these are instantly recognizable by their round cheek, eye presented by a circle around a dot (sometimes with a trailing line to represent a more Hunnic/Asiatic eye), and their general lack of depth, rather portraying the portrait in a series of line etchings. The attendants wear the ubiquitous "herringbone dress", and are always seen holding a sash on either side of the fire altar, which sags in the middle. The steps between these are not 100% firm in my mind, but it isn't much of a leap to place this as a later imitation of the above coin (1.1.9.1 - Closing Style I, Hunnic portrait) The portrait bears some clear resemblance, with the eye outlined by a circle and the large moustache, but the face has been filled in a bit, and importantly, the attendants' skirt has become detached from the rest of the body, and the fire altar sash now hangs almost straight down to rest on the base. A slight further modification - 1.1.9.2, Closing Style II, Proto-Chavada portrait) Some features such as the eye and moustache are preserved here, but the head has fully merged with the hat, giving the impression of an elongated cranium. The fire altar sash now extends all the way to the edge of the die, and the herringbones of the attendants' dresses have become much less pronounced and fewer in number (I count 4). Then my first recent purchase - The same overall type, but the portrait has filled out quite a bit and taken a more familiar shape. The reverse is still more archaic, with the sun portrayed with rays, and the fire altar as dots so close together that they have worn into a solid triangle. And finally 1.1.9.3 - the closing series for 1.1 Notably, the fire altar flame has spread out into pellets - now consistently in a 4-3-2-1 pattern, and the herringbones are nearly gone from the attendants' dresses. Notably there is still only one string of dots for the fire altar sash. Another, with a slightly different portrait style with the residual line around the eye reduced to only a heavy eyebrow - the sun now has also been reduced to a rosette of pellets on the upper left of the reverse And then- the defining moment that marks the transition between series 1.1 and 1.2 - Another row is added to the fire altar ribbon! In another recent add from the earliest series of 1.2 - the attendants actually hold the upper row, as they did back in 1.1.6 This type is quite rare - complicated by the almost universally poor state of preservation of these coins. Upon reflection, I am actually realizing the need to completely re-write my treatment of series 1.2 to accommodate these, so type numbers are still a bit up in the air for now. Slightly more common are the next step, where the attendants drop the upper row and let it hang down on top of the bottom Note that the attendants for now still have a full body with a residual 1-2 herringbones at the bottom of their dress... This is quickly lost as the entire lower half of the attendants' body becomes just a ball with a residual herringbone - marking one of the more common types of 1.2 Skipping ahead a bit, that herringbone fully replaces the body and becomes the second line in the Gadhaiya we all know and love... Let's see those coins and comments!
Very interesting evolution - much the same as how Celtic coins became highly stylized (i'm thinking about how the head of Apollo degenerated into a pile of dots over time). I have a few Sassanian coins of the common rulers, but haven't explored their evolution in India yet. Generally i buy things outside my usual collecting themes (Roman and British rulers) late at night while drinking wine, and browsing new and exciting collecting themes online ... No doubt Late Night Greg will buy some Indian coins for me one of these days
@Finn235.....Interesting breakdown..Looking forward to Finn's reference book? I've been recently collecting the late abstract types with the moving nose and will post a thread once they are photographed..... Here's a selection of mine from across the board.....Note photo diameters are inaccurate..
Great to see you continuing this investigative journey ! Here just one of the family members who sought asylum in my collection:
Thanks all and I always love to see your collection @Spaniard ! @GregH - Indian coins are a very steep learning curve, but they aren't too bad once you learn the basics. On the bright side - they are dirt cheap too - the coins I posted above averaged about $10 each, and none of them cost more than $20. They make a good way to take a financial cooling off period without having to give up the dopamine rush of unpacking a package of new coins for the collection @THCoins, nice example of the terminal style of 1.1 with only a single row of ribbons! Also, expanding on the new type with the attendants holding one row of the ribbon, I became aware of the type's existence a little while ago on a close inspection of Maheshwari's book - number 307 As usually happens with these, my sellers sold me three of the type in the past two months And to prove that nothing with this series can be *too* easy, I also found this puzzling piece that has the same ribbon pattern, but I struggle to call it part of the same series on stylistic grounds
@Finn235....That last coin is really cool!......You have the coin in hand but is it conceivable that at least the obverse has been struck twice?...Initially looking at the portrait I saw a bulbous head running backwards, which as you've said just doesn't fit but also maybe this??.....Just a thought and probably miles away...
