India, Saurashtra-Malwa-Gujarat region (?). AR drachm. Anonymous "Gadhaiya Paisa" type derived from Sasanian precursors, early period (c. 800- 950 AD). Obverse: Stylized head right. Reverse: Stylized fire-altar. Mitchiner Non-Islamic States 419-422. This coin: Bought on eBay, February 2022. To be honest, I know very little about this coin or its historical context; I'm sure @Finn235 could tell you a lot more than I could, as he specializes in the Indo-Sasanian types. I do know that this design is derived from a Sasanian drachm, and already represents the result of several stages of mutation. The obverse portrait is still recognizable as a portrait, though highly elongated in an unrealistic fashion (even societies that practiced head-binding, like the Hephthalites, are unlikely to have achieved such "conehead" shapes). The reverse fire-altar is also still (barely) recognizable, though I would never guess based on this design that the original featured two human attendants as well. Overall, it's an interesting little coin, and at $12.50 I was happy to acquire it, even though it isn't part of my main collecting interests. Please post your related coins.
@Parthicus ....Nice snack!...Really like the toning and the irregular flan shape is great! Here's a couple of mine..
....Yes I actually agree...Head binding was certainly being practiced at this time and it is possible that it is just an abstract interpretation of this....I personally feel it's a type of head wear although even on the most detailed examples I've yet to see a brim line running across the head.. There is an interesting article on academia.edu... Crowns, hats, turbans and helmets The headgear in Iranian history volume I: Pre-Islamic Period Edited by Katarzyna Maksymiuk & Gholamreza Karamian Siedlce-Tehran 2017.... The sketch at the bottom of page 160??
Nice pickup! I agree that most likely these coins are intended to portray some sort of hat; however I am unaware of anything even remotely like it in any Indian art of the period. Although the Alchon huns definitely practiced headbinding, these come a good 500 years later, and I am unaware of the practice that late in India. The type itself is one of the earlier in series 1.3. For context - End- series 1.2 (note the detached chin, dot nostril, and long moustache) The first series in 1.3 are the "fancy" portrait style 1.3.1 - shaped like a boomerang Followed by yours, 1.3.2, basically the same except that the head is straightened out Then there is a small number of fancy style ones like the ones that @Spaniard posted - these add a tiny moustache and inexplicably bring back the six-pointed star hair bun which is rarely seen on 1.3.1 Then the portrait rounds out Compresses a bit (This is where 1.4 splits off from 1.3) And then the series goes wonky with really weird head shapes before fizzling out
Compare below the prototype drachm of Peroz and the gadhaiya paisa. Virtually every element of the prototype is preserved on the imitation. I have color coded the various elements. One exception is that while the turret and the front crescent of the prototype crown are drawn as horizontal lines of dots on the imitation, the pearl diadem across the forehead is omitted (I have drawn a thin line where it would be).
