Indo Sassanian Coinage, Series 1.1 - Early types

1.1.5 Coin 4
23mm
4.06g

This coin seems to draw inspiration from Series 1.1.4, although with some distinctions. The portrait here has a distinctive smoothly curved jaw, which gives the head the overall shape of an orange slice! It is engraved in better relief than is typical for series after 1.1.2. The eye is a small unadorned dot sitting directly on the face with no visible socket. The nose is a straight line with a dot nostril, just as on our Coin 3. The lips are also dots arranged directly beneath the nostril, although there is a clear moustache coming from the upper lip. The beard is made of two parallel lines of dots, and merge at an indistinct point directly beneath the lower lip. The ear is naturalistically engraved, with only two pearls visible. The hat again has a dotted brim, but this time it does not extend all the way to the edge of the coin. The wings are elaborately engraved, almost exactly like on 1.1.4. The top of the hat is tall and comes to a point, no antenna or orb visible on this specimen. The ribbon is elegantly engraved, with the lower portion presenting as two lines giving the impression of a thick ribbon which folds right above the shoulder pad and leads up to a rather small and slanted upper portion.

The fire altar is tall and hour glass shaped. The flames are not visible at all, and the bowl presents with the top two lines of nearly equal length atop a very stunted third line. The base is more evenly sloped, and the shaft is a pleasing diamond shape. The ribbons are strings of dots hanging down to the attendants' hands, although there are two unexplained dots beneath the left ribbon. Moon and/or sun are obscured by the flat strike.

The attendants take the usual tall thin shape, although their heads are not distinct. The herringbones are rather subtle, although more pronounced on the right attendant. The dress forks outward at the hem, although we can see on the left attendant that it is decorated with dots. Clear legs present as two lines of dots beneath the dress. The arms are long and meet sharply at the elbow. The fire altar-side arms are entirely detached from the body, arcing from the bottom to the top of the bowl and coming closest to their attendant in the middle, at roughly head level.

 

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1.1.5 Coin 5
23mm
3.89g

What a peculiar bust! While coins of this series come in a rather wide array of styles, this one sports by far the most crude portrait I have ever seen within this style. While the necklace and shoulder pads are delicately detailed, the face presents with the cheek as a large squarish block, and the rest of the features sort of hovering in front of it. The eye is an unadorned dot; the nose a line with no visible nostril, and the lips two simple dots several millimeters removed from the cheek. The beard is a single line of dots which form the jaw and chin. The hair bun is an indistinct blob, and the ear is completely obscured by the striking issues. We can see the brim of the hat and part of the front wing, but not much detail in the headgear. The neck is unusually thick and prominent between the jaw and the necklace. The ribbon originates from the tip of the shoulder pad and curves like a backwards S to the upper portion, which tips toward the portrait.

The fire altar is quite unusual as well; the flame begins as clear and well-spaced dots for the first three lines, but two additional lines are added, making the flame pattern 9-5-4-3-2-1. The bottom is so tightly packed that it could pass for a fourth line of the bowl. We can see the shaft is a diamond shape, although much of the lower portion is obscured by a flat strike. There is a clear moon at the upper right, although a double strike has erased the sun, if it was there to begin with. A second attendant's head hovers slightly below where we would expect the sun to be.

The double strike is especially apparent on the attendants, and makes them somewhat difficult to make out. The right is the more clear, and we can see a small round head sitting atop a necklace, with prominent breasts below it. It appears at first that the body is a straight line, but on closer observation we can see a faint thorn dress offset by a couple mm to the right; the line extending down from the breasts is actually the altar-side arm. The dress seems to fork out at the hem, but the legs are not distinct. The arm is medium, and bends sharply at the elbow.

Note also that the dies used on this coin are a good deal smaller than the flan diameter - both were offset, which caused rather extreme distortion; almost a scyphate shape. That could be a primary driving factor behind the eventual move to using dies larger than the flans.

 

1.1.5 Coin 6
21mm
3.84g
Another curiosity that could only go in a junk bin category. Struck on a much smaller flan, the portrait here seems to be of slightly more naturalistic proportions, although it is still stylized in its own way. The portrait has an almost squarish cheek with a solid jaw that slopes downward, giving a more youthful and less masculine overall appearance. The eye is a dash rather than a dot, and sits in the middle of a rather large eye socket. The nose is a straight line, with a dot hovering behind it to represent the nostril. The lips are detached from the face, and are two dashes. There is no indication of any facial hair. The hat is especially notable for having a decorative swirl - a rather unusual feature. The wings are weakly struck, but fairly large and seem to follow after series 1.1.3. The brim of the hat is wide, although it is unclear whether it extends to the edge of the die. The antenna is present on this coin, although it is intersected by a crescent. The ribbon originates from the edge of the die in front of the shoulder pads, and makes a rather simple C-shaped curve before meeting the upper portion, which is tightly packed and leaning slightly toward the bust.

The fire altar is a bit more conventional, although the flames are not clear. The shaft is made of a pillar, and the ribbon seems to extend down past the attendant's arm on the left. A small crescent moon is present at the top left.

The attendants have reverted to the tall oval head with thin, curved bodies adorned with a dress of conservatively sized thorns, which flares out at the bottom. The arm is medium length, and curves at the elbow. The altar-side arm curves with the bowl, with the part that ought to be the shoulder resting atop the hand of the other arm, and the hand meeting where the shoulder ought to be. Whether this was intentional, or sloppy engraving, it is clear by this point that the celatores no longer understood the original purpose of the altar-side arm which is meant to gesture toward/salute the flames

 

1.1.5 Coin 7
23mm
3.98g

This coin is just as perplexing now as when I first purchased it. Despite being struck at least twice--and possibly a third time--roughly half of the obverse is completely featureless. We can see from the lowest strike that the chin here seems to follow the same "Orange slice" shape found on 1.1.5-4, which is more or less the only criteria placing it in this category. We can see the hat is a small semicircle and the wings have reduced to just a few lines. The ear appears as an upside down teardrop shape and is solid, arguably because of the multiple strikes. Three pearls are visible on long chains hanging down from the earlobe. The rear ribbon is small and delicately carved.

Again, striking issues make the reverse of this coin extremely difficult to assess. The fire altar is wide and ov about average height, and the flame appears to be a solid triangle. We can see the ribbon sags in the middle and is held by the attendant. The attendant is tall and thin, but reasonably well-proportioned with a very tall and narrow featureless head atop a pearl necklace. The breasts are large and prominent, and the arm bends naturalistically at both the elbow and the wrist, although the hand is still just a continuation of the arm. We can clearly see the less common skirt hem swept to the side, as on 1.1.4-2. The sun appears on the left and is a ring of six dots with no visible center.

 

1.1.6 - Line Style 1 - Large head with round cheek

A relatively common coin for this series, the artistry here takes a sharp turn as the die is engraved almost entirely in line etchings; the cheek and shoulder pads being the only exception. Individual specimens show surprisingly little variance, which is unusual for series 1.1.

Consideration points for this series:
- The obverse and reverse dies are engraved almost entirely in line etchings; almost no relief is present on the coin.
- The portrait is large, well-proportioned, and powerful
- Just about the only part of the coin in relief is the king's cheek, which is a large solid circle that hovers without touching any other part of the face.
- The eye is a dot, set within a circular eye socket. A line trails from the back of the socket, perhaps trying to indicate a more "Hunnic" (e.g. Eastern Asian) eye.
- There is a long, thin, delicately engraved mustache that runs from the top lip and follows the curvature of the cheek without touching either the cheek or the beard.
- The fire altar is tall, wide, and the flames are comprised of both more rows of dots (about 5-7 rows) with up to 9 dots in the bottom row.

This type is published and widely known. Maheshwari proposes these as the origination point of the Gadhaiya Paisa, although I suspect they are a dead-end in the evolutionary tree. More on that later.

1.1.6 Coin 1
23mm
3.98g

This is, believe it or not, remarkably complete for this type, although it is slightly double-struck. The head is large and powerful, although lifeless. The eye presents as an open circle with a clearly visible line pointing toward the back of the head, and is topped by a small eyebrow. The nose is a short line that descends from the eyebrow down at about a 45 degree angle, and the nostril is a small dot that hovers behind the tip. The lips are two dots below the nostril, as is the chin below the lips. the moustache is delicately engraved, and shows the double strike most clearly. The double strike has caused the beard dots to merge into a single thick bumpy line. The ear is small and sits at the top of the head, the typical 3-pearl earring descending from the lobe. The hair bun is a small star behind the earring. The hat is small and domed, the brim extending to the edge of the die on either side, and the small wings barely visible above that. If you really squint, you can somewhat make out the orb above the hat. The shoulder pads are large club shapes outlined by a tight line of dots. The ribbon originates from the shoulder pads on both sides, and swirls up to a small upper portion on both sides.

The fire altar here is quite prominent, and we can see at least six rows of flame dots, with no less than seven dots at the bottom row. The shaft is a thin, unadorned line, and the ribbon is a dotted line that sags dramatically in the middle and is held by both attendants. The sun is a six or seven-pointed star above the fire altar to the left.

The left attendant is somewhat clearly visible; she is tall, thin, has an elongated head that extends beyond the die border, and her necklace curiously extends all the way up until it touches the star. The arm joins sharply at the elbow. The dress is thin behind the arm, but spreads out to a dramatic hem right above the legs, which are barely discernible as two lines beneath the dress.

 

1.1.6 Coin 2
23mm
4.07g

This was my first coin from this series! Despite the dark patina and striking issues, this coin exemplifies the portrait style of this type quite well. Of particular note, the eye is well formed, with a dot pupil set within a circular socket with a small line protruding from the behind. Contrasting with coin 1, the ear is larger, set a little lower on the head, has a dot in the middle (I assume standing for the ear opening, although it could be an earring), but this time only two pearls are visible on the earring. The hat again is small and rounded, and we can see the lower crescent, but not the orb. Two pellets flank the top of the hat, between the wings and the orb.

The reverse unfortunately is poorly struck. The fire altar thankfully is mostly complete; we can clearly see four rows of fire dots (about 2-3 are off flan), and the bottom row has seven flame dots. The shaft is a simple pillar, and the ribbon this time is large and again droops dramatically in the middle. On the left side we can clearly see a single dot hovering in the middle of the droop - I am not sure of its significance, if there is any. The attendants are too weakly struck to provide any meaningful insights.

 

1.1.6 Coin 3
24mm
4.10g
Again with the striking issues, yeesh! While still part of this series, this coin is unusual in that the striking issue (either metal deformation from an improperly aligned strike, an improperly formed flan, or an overstrike), this one does not have the cheek hovering without touching anything; it connects to the hat. We can learn some good things from this coin, at any rate. Here we can clearly see the forepart of the face, and especially the front ribbon, which has a thick main line in the lower section, as well as a thinner accent line to give it a pseudo-3D effect. The ribbon originates from the necklace on this coin. The hat is somewhat obscured by the strike issues, but appears to be patterned. The left wing is clear, and delicately engraved. The orb is faintly visible, and appears to be turreted or patterned.

The reverse again has a very large fire altar with an excess number of flame dots - I count 6 rows with a bottom row containing at least 7 dots. The pillar this time is a lozenge or diamond shape, but the ribbons still sag dramatically. The sun is a star on the left, and the moon is a crescent with a dot in the center at the right.

The attendants again are tall, skinny, have large, wide hems on their dresses, and long, sharply jointed arms. The leg of the right attendant is visible, and is patterned with dots.

 

1.1.7 - Line Style II - Tall head

Another commonly seen type, these all share roughly the same tall, thin head that in a way reminds me of the character "Beaker" from the Muppets. These are engraved in a similar line style as 1.1.6, but can show slightly higher relief.

Consideration points for the type:
- The head is tall, but narrow
- The cheek is somewhat ovoid, engraved in relief, and connects directly to the hat via a bridge behind the eye
- The eye is an unadorned dot in a large socket
- The nose is large, nearly vertical, and connects directly to the brim of the hat
- The top of the hat is a solid semicircle surrounded by dots. It usually connects to the cheek.
- The lips are dashes. A moustache extends from the upper lip onto the cheek, touching it.
- The fire altar attendants are tall, thin, and have very exaggerated herringbone dresses, which terminate in a very wide hem.
- The fire altar is tall, somewhat wide, and the shaft is a simple pillar
- The flames are tightly clustered rows of dots; again with up to 7 rows with as many as 9 dots in the lower row.

1.1.7 Coin 1
24mm 3.72g
The similarity between this and the last coin in 1.1.6 is not difficult to see. This is, believe it or not, much better struck and preserved than is normal for this type. The weight is lighter, probably due to moderate wear.

The head is narrow and about twice as tall as it is wide. The eye is a simple dot sitting in a socket that connects to a gap between the nose and nostril. The nose is nearly vertical, and the nostril is a dot closer to the cheek than the nose. A prominent, somewhat squarish brow is present, jutting out slightly over the nose, and curving downward onto the cheek. The lips are slightly closer to dots than dashes here, but we can see that the upper lip is connected to the moustache (mostly worn away) and the lower lip was given a little extra length. The beard is a double row of dots wrapping from the chin behind the cheek, and up into the hat. The ear is high, small, and sports an earring with at least two pearls both connected to a single chain coming from the earlobe. The hair bun is an indistinct solid pom-pom shape behind the earring. The forward ribbon has a double lower portion and modestly sized upper portion, ending in vertical dashes. The brim of the hat extends to the edge of the die on both sides, and the bowl of the hat is conservatively proportioned. The wings are medium sized and ornate, curving in on themselves toward the top. We can see part of the bottom of the orb (korymbos) above the head.

The fire altar is tall and takes up about the middle third of the coin. The flames are so tightly clustered they nearly make a solid block, but individual flame dots can bee seen. There are at least five dots in the lower row and at least six rows of dots. The bowl is slightly larger than the base, and the lines are spaced slightly further apart. The shaft is a pillar, and the ribbons droop in the middle. The attendants are both tall with exaggerated herringbone dresses that flare out at the bottom, revealing legs made of rows of dots. The arms are long and join sharply at the elbow. The sun is visible as a pom pom shape at the upper left, and the moon is a large crescent with a central dot in the upper right.

 

1.1.7 Coin 2
23mm
4.01g

Horrendous striking issues obscure about half of the obverse and a third of the reverse of this coin, but important observations are still there to be made. On this coin more than the previous, we can see that the cheek connects directly to the hat, which here has a double brim, and the bowl is more clearly a small semicircle surrounded by decorative dots. The wings are significantly smaller on this specimen, but still curl in on themselves. The bottom of the Korymbos is visible above the hat, but the orb portion is not visible. We can see the portrait still has a small ear sporting the curious inverted-Y earring, and the rear ribbons are small and tightly spaced behind the ear.

The fire altar is barely visible here, but we can still see that the flames are tightly clustered. The bowl and base are smaller and narrower than on the previous coin, and the shaft is much longer. To compensate, the ribbon is also much longer, indicating that the celator was not working on a specific template nor defined parameters for the proportions of the fire altar, but was instructed to make the ribbon sag to the level of the top of the base. The attendant, like the previous coin, is tall, has a long and sharply jointed arm, and wears a herringbone dress that flares out at the bottom to reveal her legs. A large necklace is present here, and the attendant's head seems to be a tall oval, which probably extends over the border of the die.

 

1.1.7 Coin 3
23mm
4.16g
Here again we see a tall and narrow head with a dramatic vertical nose. The eye is a very small dot, and curiously we can see a bit of an Asiatic eye socket, similar to 1.1.6 Coin 2. The lips are more dramatically dashes, and we can see a little bit of a moustache coming up over the cheek, which bulges out under the eye but remains fairly wide all the way up to the brim of the hat. Again we see the same semicircular hat bowl surrounded by dots, and another double brim for the hat. The wings are small. Curiously, this coin does not have the inverse Y earring, but rather the normal two pearls on separate chains directly connecting to the ear lobe, with a third hovering below it. The shoulder pads are present, and rather small for the type. The ribbon is comprised of a single line lower portion, and loosely spaced upper portion.

The fire altar is nearly all flame! I count six rows of flame dots, with at least six in the bottom row, although it does trail off into a flat strike. The sun is a dramatic starburst to the upper left, and the attendant sports a very tall ovoid head and large necklace of beads. The arm again is sharply jointed, and she wears a herringbone dress that seems to flare out, but is mostly lost to the flat strike. We can see the die border quite clearly, which is made up of triangles strung together and pointing clockwise.

 

1.1.7 Coin 4
22mm
3.76g

This rather worn specimen doesn't show us much about the series, but it does show a little bit. The portrait is worn to the point that the face and hat merge seamlessly; the beard is totally lost, and the eye is not distinct. The hat again seems to have a single-layer brim, and the wings are small. The ribbon closely matches that of coin 3, but the upper portion is more tightly clustered toward the hat.

The fire altar here takes the usual form; only the bottom row of flames is visible as dots; the rest are just a solid block. The altar shaft is little more than just a lozenge, but the ribbon again originates from the bottom of the bowl, droops to the top of the base, and then goes back up to the attendant's hand. The sun is entirely off-flan, but the moon presents as a crescent of dots with a central dot. Again, the attendant is tall, thin, has a long arm that joins sharply at the elbow, and wears a herringbone dress that forks out at the hem. We can clearly see here that the head passes over the die border.

 

1.1.7 Coin 5
23mm
4.06g


This coin is a more recent purchase, but brings us back to Coin 1 of the series, albeit with a less complete but sharper strike. Again we see a tall narrow head characterized by a long, near vertical nose. The eye is an unadorned dot sitting in its socket, which is topped by a prominent, angular eyebrow that connects the nose to the cheek. The nose descends at about a 30 degree slope, and the nostril is a dot sitting atop the cheek. The lips are two dots below this, and we can clearly see the moustache, which runs beneath the nostril and cheek before merging with it. Two rows of beard dots are present, the innermost of which curiously seems to wrap inward to fill the gap behind the eyebrow. The ear is not present, but we can see the telltale inverted Y earring. The hat is mostly flat, but we can see the brim, part of the bowl, and the bottom of the forward wing. The neck here is present; a sort of bean shape beneath the beard that is surrounded by an extra line and a beaded necklace. The ribbon is made up of a double-line lower portion leading to a somewhat small and narrow upper portion, where each line terminates in a smaller, vertical line, not a dot.

Not much of use is present on the reverse, unfortunately. The fire altar is tall, thin, and is topped with a solid triangular block of flames. The shaft is flat-struck, and the ribbons sag dramatically toward the attendants' hands. The sun is a large pom-pom and the moon is not present. We can see enough of the attendants at least to know that they are tall, lanky, wear dramatic herringbone dresses, and their elbows meet at about a 90 degree angle.

 

1.1.8 -Line Style 3 - Almond eye

This final line style type is the most varied of the three, and includes some of the most degenerate coins found within series 1.1. It is difficult to assess such things, but based on stylistic clues, these may be one of the longer running types of this series.

Consideration points for the type:
- Like 1.1.6, the head is more or less naturalistically proportioned.
- The cheek is roundish, but never perfectly round.
- The portrait wears the typical wide-brimmed hat, the bowl of which is conservatively sized and proportioned.
- The eye is distinctively almond-shaped, usually open at the front, and the pupil sits in this opening.
- The nostril is a dot, and sits on top of the cheek
The lips are dots, and a moustache usually runs from the upper lip onto the cheek, and
does not touch the beard
- The fire altar is usually sloppily engraved.
- The attendants are degenerate, showing exaggerated herringbones which sometimes run all the way to the edge of the die with no apparent hem or legs. Imagine what a mermaid skeleton might look like.
- The series is notorious for poor strikes.

1.1.8 Coin 1
22mm
4.09g

This coin I had originally assigned to 1.1.2 before deciding it met the criteria for inclusion here. Here we find an artful and well proportioned portrait with the telltale
almond eye. The flan is somewhat scyphate, and only the center of the obverse and reverse is visible The cheek is nearly a circle, and while engraved somewhat in relief, no other feature of the face touches it directly, thus it still qualifies as "line relief". The eye is a striking almond shape (or a < if you will) with an unadorned pupil sitting at the opening. The nose descends at about a 30 degree angle and terminates in a dot, with the dot nostril sitting behind it. The upper lip is merged with the sharply engraved and struck moustache which extends over about 3/4 of the cheek, and the lower lip is a dot below it. The beard is made of two layers of dots, extending from the brim of the hat to the lower lip and chin. The ear is small and sits high on the head, right under the brim of the hat, and is adorned with the typical three-pear earring. The hair is a pom-pom shape behind the head The hat is tall, textured, and sports rather typically styled wings and a wide brim comprised of a single row of dots. We can see the front ribbon has a double-ine lower portion and a tightly clustered, carefully engraved upper portion. The shoulder pads are obscured by a large area of flat strike.

The reverse is unfortunately restricted to just the upper two thirds of the fire altar. We can see the flame is a tight clustering of dots, and the bowl is engraved to be relatively deep compared to the flame, each line well-spaced and the top bowl line is a bit longer than the others, as the attendants inner arms do not extend all the way up to the bowl. The shaft is a small vertical line and the ribbons are short and made of tightly clustered dots, sagging only slightly on the way to the attendants' hands. The sun and moon are confused piles of dots; it is difficult to discern which is intended to be which. We can vaguely make out the upper portion of the right attendant, which has an oval head

 

1.1.8 Coin 2
23mm
3.84g

This one is a good illustration of how difficult these coins can be to categorize. At a quick glance, this would belong with 1.1.5, which is where I had it initially. Despite the encrustations and very shallow relief, this coin is in excellent condition for the type.

Like 1.1.6, the portrait is realistically proportioned. Unlike the other coins of this series the eye is set within a circular eye socket, with a line protruding from the back to simulate the Asiatic eye. The nose is short, angled at about 45 degrees, and the nostril is a dot sitting on the cheek a short distance away. The lips are dashes, and there appears to be part of a moustache originating from between the nostril and upper lip, which is now mostly worn away. The beard is a single row of tight, medium-sized dots. The cheek is sort of like a rounded-out Idaho. The ear is tall and narrow, and has a solid line within it. The earring is the standard type with two pearls attached to chains, although the third pearl is not visible. The hair bun is a pom-pom shape, rounded but indistinct. The necklace originates from about mid-jaw, wraps downward and follows the jaw line up to the ear. The shoulder pads are large club shapes, surrounded by dots. The hat bowl is
wide, reasonably tall, and extends directly from the beard in the rear and meets the nose in the front. The brim is a single dotted line, extending to the ends of the die on either side. The wings are barely visible, but appear to be shaped like cornucopiae, opening toward the bowl of the hat. The front ribbon originates from the shoulder pad, curves twice in the bottom, and joins directly with the lowest line of the upper portion; again forming what looks like the late Brahmi "Ha". The rear ribbon originates from the die border and roughly follows the curvature of the front, adding extra length to fill in the
empty space above the shoulder. Again it joins the lower line of the upper ribbon to form what looks like Brahmi "Ha".

The fire altar unfortunately is heavily worn and obscured by encrustations. It is tall, relatively narrow, and seems to follow the standard 4-3-2-1 pattern of flame dots. The shaft is a small dot at the center, and no ribbons are visible. The moon is visible as a crescent with central dot in the upper right, but the sun is not visible. The attendants are the most important feature for inclusion into 1.1.8, and they are characteristically degenerate. The upper portion of their bodies are well-formed; they have a large, round head sitting atop a solid necklace and clear breasts below that. The arm is long, joins sharply at the elbow, and the forearm is wavy. The inner arm is short, and seems to run from the necklace to the hand of the outer arm. The dress is made of extremely large crudely engraved herringbones, and maintains the same width all the way down to the two teardrop-shaped legs below.

 

1.1.8 Coin 3
22mm
3.88g

Despite the heavy wear, this coin has quite a striking portrait! Again we see a bust with a very prominent Asiatic eye, portrayed as a dot sitting inside of an almond shaped opening. The nose is short and runs from the brim of the hat down to just above the upper lip, and the nostril is a dot sitting atop the cheek. The lips and chin are all dots, and a short moustache runs from between the nostril and upper lip onto the cheek. The beard is a double-row of dots. The ear is narrow, tall, and wears at least two pearls hanging down on the earring. The hat is small and mostly lost to wear. We can see that the front ribbon is small and cramped in front of the nose, probably indicating that the hat has a wide brim.

Unfortunately, not much of the fire altar is visible except the bowl, shaft and base. Note that the bottom line of the bowl is crooked; this is unusual for any Indo-Sassanian coin. The shaft is a plain pillar, and the ribbons are short strings of dots that nearly form a circle. The attendants are characteristic of the series-although the upper portions of their bodies are not visible, we can see that rather than creating the dress from herringbones (as is typical for the series), the Celator drew a curvy line from the attendant's arm to the edge of the die and added herringbones to that -there is no hem and no legs, giving the attendant an unsettlingly serpentine appearance, like the Lamia or Naga.

 

1.1.8 Coin 4
21mm
3.75g

This coin falls somewhere between coins 2 and 3 in terms of style, and despite the heavy wear, quite a lot of important detail is visible. Once again, the bust is characterized by its prominent Asiatic eye, this time topped by a heavy brow. The nose is somewhat and the nostril is smaller and further away. The lips are both dots, and the chin is not distinct from the necklace. A moustache runs from the top lip under the cheek to the beard. The beard is comprised of two rows of dots. The ear is high, small, and somewhat unusually engraved to simulate the ear canal. It wears the typical three-pearl earring. The hair bun is a pom pom behind the ear. The hat has a wide brim and a small semicircular bowl surrounded by a dotted line. The wings are not visible. The ribbons are poorly engraved: most notably, the lower part of the front ribbon is not smoothly curved, but comprised of five lines meeting at 90 degree angles. The This coin falls somewhere between coins 2 and 3 in terms of style, and despite the heavy wear, quite a lot of important detail is visible. Once again, the bust is characterized by its prominent Asiatic eye, this time topped by a heavy brow. The nose is somewhat longer and the nostril is smaller and further away. The lips are both dots, and the chin is not distinct from the necklace. A mustache runs from the top lip under the cheek to the beard. The beard is comprised of two rows of dots. The ear is high, small, and somewhat unusually engraved to simulate the ear canal. It wears the typical three-pearl earring. The hair bun is a pom pom behind the ear. The hat has a wide brim and a small semicircular bowl surrounded by a dotted line. The wings are not visible. The ribbons are poorly engraved: most notably, the lower part of the front ribbon is not smoothly curved, but comprised of five lines meeting at 90 degree angles. The upper portion of both ribbons are small and cramped around other features of the coin.

The fire altar is mostly visible on this coin, and is tall and reasonably wide. The flame follows the typical 4-3-2-1 pattern, although the right attendants inner arm merges with the bottom and rightmost fire dot. The shaft is a pillar with an indistinct central decoration and the ribbons are confused piles of dots. The moon is on the upper right, and is a small crescent, the sun is not visible. The attendants have large circular heads, a small solid necklace atop two large breasts. Unusually, their arms are not distinct and merge with the exaggerated herringbones of their dresses, which seem to extend to the end of the die without a hem or legs present.

 

1.1.8 Coin 5
20mm
3.81g

Another slight variation on the same theme, this coin shows an even further level of degeneracy. The eye has the characteristic < shape, but has no pupil. The nose is typical, and the nostril is a detached dot sitting near the cheek. The mustache originates from between the nostril and upper lip and runs onto the cheek before merging with it. The lips and chin are all dots, and the beard is made of two rows of dots. The ear is high, small, and greatly simplified, and sports the typical earring with two pearls on chains and a third hovering below it. The necklace and shoulder pads are too difficult to make out, and the hat is entirely off-flan. The front ribbon is notable for being made of two separate strokes; a feature we have not seen since early in the series.

The fire altar is sloppily engraved, with crooked lines, flame dots that fail to follow straight lines and merge with their surroundings. The shaft is a lozenge shape, and the ribbons are almost circular. The moon is visible at the upper left, and the sun is an unusual starfish shape - we will actually see this shape as a countermark on a future coin. The attendants have large round heads, a solid necklace, prominent breasts, sharply jointed arms, and the characteristic "mermaid skeleton" dress of herringbones that seems to run off the die without ever forming a hem or legs.

 

1.1.8 Coin 6
21mm
3.91g

While the fabric of this coin is not terribly different from the past five, I find it interesting that this was seemingly struck with a much smaller die, perhaps small enough to fit entirely on-flan were it better centered and struck.

The portrait is yet a bit more simplified, showing a characteristic Asiatic eye with an unadorned pupil. The nose is quite short, and the nostril hovers midway between the nose and cheek. The lips and chin are large dots, and no mustache is visible. The beard and everything else to the left of the cheek is not visible. The hat bowl takes a conservative semicircular shape with a solid outline and a large dotted brim. The wings are two crescent shapes, only connected at the top. The ribbon is well spaced and straight, although the bottom portion once again curiously assumes a shape reminiscent of the letter Ha.

The fire altar is a bit better engraved than is typical; it is tall, not overly wide, and is almost straight. We see the flame seems to follow the canonical 4-3-2-1 shape, although only the bottom two rows are visible. The shaft is a pillar with a central bulge, and the ribbons are a confused jumble of dots. The attendants have medium sized circular heads, a solid necklace, large breasts, jointed arms, and confused herringbone dresses that taper off indistinctly.

 

1.1.9 - Closing Series

This series is admittedly yet another junk bucket for coins at the end of series 1.1 that all share one very important feature with coins of series 1.2 on to the end:

The attendants do not hold the fire altar ribbons, which now lay along the base of the fire altar

Whether any of these coins are strictly related, I cannot comment, but given that nearly every other coin depicts attendants holding a sagging ribbon, the possibility is worth further investigation. I hope to add more examples of this type, but they do not show up often. We can at least break this type up into three distinct varieties.

1.1.9.1 - Closing Series I - Hunnic face, Skirt attendants

These I admittedly do not yet understand well. Contrasting series 1.1.8, these initial coins have well-engraved reverses featuring attendants who do not have long dresses, but rather a small skirt beneath their arm, with legs portruding below. They are also characterized by having a tiny fire altar ribbon that hangs almost straight down and is not held by the attendants.

1.1.9.1 Coin 1
22mm

I had originally considered my second coin to be a one-off; probably an imitation of unknown provenance, but the discovery of this coin (and a few more similar to it in Maheshwari's book) prove that this is in fact a variety, regardless of how many pieces are missing to this puzzle.

The portrait is worn nearly flat, but we can make out enough for analysis. Overall, this seems to be at least closely related to 1.1.6. The head is large on the coin, realistically proportioned, ans seems to be of the line relief type. The eyes are small dots within a circle, and the nose is a nearly vertical line, with the nostril presenting as a dot a short distance away and under the eye. The lips are dots, and the top lip is connected to a mustache that seems to curl without ever touching the cheek. The beard is somewhat visible and either by design or through wear, the beard dots have merged to give the portrait a solid chin. The cheek seems to be round, but is mostly lost to wear. The ear is high, reasonably large, simple, and wears the typical three-pearl earring. The hair bun is a large blob with protruding rays. The hat bowl is small, surrounded by a border of dots, and interestingly does not seem to have a brim at all. The wings are somewhat visible, but difficult to make out any detail. The front ribbon seems to originate from the lips, and the lower portion merges with the bottom line of the upper to form what almost looks like the Brahmi letter Ha. The rear is totally lost to wear.

The reverse is where it gets interesting. The fire altar is tall, reasonably wide, and interestingly seems to curve ever so slightly to the right. Four flame dots are visible at the bottom row, but the rest is worn flat. The shaft is a pillar, perhaps originally decorated as a star. The ribbons hang down from the bottom of the fire altar bowl to the top of the base, and are not touched by the attendants. The attendants have large circular heads, a solid necklace, long arms that join sharply at the elbow, two very prominent breasts, and wear a small skirt. There is a gap between the bottom of the arms and the top of the skirt. the skirt is made of 3-4 herringbones, and solid lines form the legs; the feet represented by dots.

 

1.1.9.1 Coin 2
20mm
3.99g

This coin is quite different from the first, and is placed here only by virtue of its reverse. Perhaps the most notable feature of this coin is the face, which is mostly solid, with hollowed out parts to hold the facial features. The eye is large, unadorned, and sits in a hollow socket beneath a heavy brow that joins directly to the nose. The nostril is a tiny dot between the nose and upper cheek. The lips and chin are dots, and the mustache is large, angular, and runs into a cavity hollowed out of the cheek. The beard is mostly worn away, but we can see some of it near the ear. The ear is large, simple, and wears the usual three-pearl earring. The hair bun is a large pom pom behind the earring. The hat has a large semicircular bowl surrounded by a solid outline, and interestingly has no brim, just like the first coin. The wings are medium sized, simply engraved cornucopiae. Teh bottom portion of the ribbon is engraved in two parallel lines and stylishly curved; the front originates from the lips, and the back from between the hair bun and ear! The upper portion of the ribbons are small, well-spaced, and engraved at a slant, more like the original Peroz than the majority of these Indian imitations. The shoulder pads are visible as solid clubs beneath the neck and necklace.

The fire altar is narrow, short, and seems to be well-engraved, although wear obscures much of it. The fire is too worn to make out except for a few dots. The shaft is a simple pillar, and the ribbons are short lines flanking it, once again running from the bottom of the bowl to the top of the base. The sun and moon are not visible. The attendants have large circular heads, small solid necklaces, prominent breasts, long jointed arms, and a skirt made of 2-3 herringbones in a crescent shape, and short legs protruding from the bottom.