Believe it or not, in addition to my gross excess of Indo-Sassanian drachms, I also have a working "type set" of ancient India which ultimately merged with my collection if modern India. I mostly gravitate toward silver coins, especially because the majority of Indian bronzes from before the Princely State age are in wretched condition. But I saw a seller listing a few bulk lots of one area I needed a lot more coverage on - the tiny and wretched AE's of the post-Mauryan age. For context, the Maurya empire was founded in 322 BC after the Maghada throne was usurped by Chandragupta Maurya - he had very little difficulty filling the power void in India after Alexander severed his supply lines to return to Babylon. By the time of Ashoka, the Maurya empire had become the largest singular political entity ever to exist in the subcontinent. Ashoka unfortunately was succeeded by weak and ineffective kings, and in the midst of local rebellions, the Maurya empire shattered into local kingdoms while its core was usurped by the Sunga empire. Numismatically, the bedrock of the Maurya economy - the silver punchmarked karshapana - was initially maintained by the Sunga, but turmoil and mismanagement led to rapid debasement, and ultimately to the abandonment of punchmarked coins in favor of cast or die-struck coins. Aside from the Sunga empire, there were scores of coin-issuing kingdoms which were ultimately either absorbed into the Greek or Scythian kingdoms to the north, or the emergent Satavahana empire in the south. Keep in mind, this is neither comprehensive, nor are these coins the epitome of what exists on the numismatic market. These were bargain bin purchases, a little less than $1 each Kausambi AE cast "karshapana" 2nd century BC Obv: "lanky bull" standing left, swastika above Rev: Bodhi tree in railing, ujjain symbol, hollow cross Saurashtra AE 1/2 karshapana Obv: Swastika, ends terminating in taurine symbols Rev: Shiva and six-arm symbol above indrahvaja (standard of Indra) Ujjain region, pair of square (1/16th?) AE karshapanas, incredibly small just 5x5mm and 0.4g each Obv: Bull or elephant standing right Rev: circles Similar, but round flan and more clearly an elephant Ujjain kingdoms or early Satavahanas, not 100% sure of ID or symbology Elephant standing left, crescent above Also in the same lot was an early medieval Kalachuris, Krishnaraja 550-575 Obv: Nandi reclining right Rev: Sri Krishnaraja above schematized temple complex This one is evading me for now! Post-Kushan, Kidarites or Kashmir Smast? About 12mm x 1.98g Obv: Lakshmi seated Rev: Ta? There's a bunch more from the lot, but most are nearly featureless - I'll see if I can get better pictures later. In the meantime, let's see anything related!
@Finn235, interesting AE nuggets - not sure if this coin is related, ancient or modern - was reminded of it looking at your post. I think it came with a batch of uncleaned coins, years ago. 3.5g, and 12.5mm.
Intriguing coin! I can tell that it's a jital from the larger "bull and horseman" series, but that isnt my strong suit. It's from medieval northern India, about 1000-1200 AD timeframe. We have a few experts on the series so hopefully they can weigh in...
Fascinating, @Finn235 ... I have a few Ancient India coins. I am beginning to become much more intrigued with Ancient India due to its incredibly rich early Human and early Civilization histories. Additionally, the pre-History Indus Valley region has an incredibly complex history that they have yet to decifer the writings that are being found. When I read more about early Homo Sapiens, and well as other closely related Homo species, India was a major area of development. Very interesting. Best, Brian I only have one Ancient AE from the North Indian area. INDIA, Kushan Empire. Vima Takto (Soter Megas). Æ Tetradrachm, 21mm, 8.5g, 12h; c. AD 80-100. Obv.: Radiate and diademed bust right, holding scepter; tamgha behind. Rev.: BACIΛЄV BACIΛЄVΩN CΩTHP MЄΓAC; Vima Takto on horseback right, holding axe; tamgha to lower right. Reference: Senior B17.1vT Landed 66 4. The Kushan empire was founded in Bactria by the Yuezhi, a group of Chinese nomadic pastoralists, after their displacement by the Xiongnu in the 2nd century BC. During the 1st century BCE, one of the five major Yuezhi tribes in Bactria, the Kushanas (Chinese: 貴霜; pinyin: Guishuang), began to subsume the other tribes and neighbouring peoples. The subsequent Kushan Empire, at its peak in the 3rd century CE, stretched from Turfan in the Tarim Basin, in the north to Pataliputra on the Gangetic plain of India in the south. The Kushanas played an important role in the development of trade on the Silk Road and the introduction of Buddhism to China. -wiki Ex: @John Anthony
Finn, the character on your last coin seems to be Telugu/Kannada script. Therfore, this likely is south-Indian, and probably not as old as it looks. Could be related to the "Sri Vira"coinage, traditionally attributed to the Madurai Nayaks. The Bull and horseman Jital shows to little detail for definita attribution. Possibly is a local Muhammad bin Sam derivative from the beginning of the 13th century AD. Added another Southern India type:
Here's a coupleof cast Sunga Dynasty coins... Sunga Dynasty 1/4 Karshapana 185-173 BC Cast Copper approx 14mm diameter 1.6gr Obverse..Elephant without (top coin) with (bottom coin) rider. Reverse..Chaitya, with crescent above. Mitchiner ACW-4366
Very cool OP coins (and in the replies), amazing to find such coins for $1 each. I have a few Indian coins, the most relevant is probably this AE of the Satavahanas who were mentioned in the first post:
INDIA Sunga Dynasty 187-78 BCE Cast Copper 1-2 Karshapana 15mm 2.5g Elephant flag swastika taurine symbol - Tree 3-arched hill hollow cross MACW 4378
This is currently my main area of interest in collecting. I have about 300 south Asia coins so far, and keep buying more. Here are a few of the nicer AR examples. I use zeno.re extensively. 1. 24-124 Nahapana 2. 238-250 Western Satraps Vijayasena 3. 415-455 Gupta Empire 4. 470-800 Post Gupta 5. 590-628 Iran-Sasanian
