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<p>[QUOTE="Finn235, post: 3584948, member: 98035"]I've been blabbering about these long enough, might as well cross-post my write-ups on these coins for whoever might be interested!</p><p><br /></p><p>At the beginning of the Gadhaiya Paisa track is a series of enigmatic coins. Significantly more diverse than any other series, these remain something of a mystery. Leading theories hold that these were either brought into India from Hepthalite and other Hunnic tribes in the 6th-8th centuries, or that they are a native invention inspired by the coinage of the invaders. My readings seem to indicate that they originate outside of Gujarat at any rate, centralized in NW India. For the time being, and absent any raw data on actual hoard contents and find spots, I will attempt to refrain from any wild speculation and present these from a purely stylistic standpoint. The incredible variety present herein seems to argue that there is a huge spread here, but whether temporal, cultural, or simply artistic tastes of individual celatores, I cannot comment. I will attempt to place these into buckets based on style, but keep in mind that many (or all) of these sub-series were probably made concurrently.</p><p><br /></p><p>**Added:</p><p>Maheshwari attributes these coins to the Gurjjar people, a warrior clan who originated in Central Asia. They supposedly migrated with the Hephtalites and/or Alchons during their invasion of India in the 500s as something between slaves and mercenaries-for-hire. They ultimately settled Gujarat permanently, and went on to found the Chaulukya dynasty - They ruled a small princely state there until the unification of India after 1947, and today are registered as a minority "Other Backwards Caste". **</p><p><br /></p><p>Some consideration points for the series:</p><p><br /></p><p>Area - NW India/Afghanistan/Pakistan</p><p>Time period - 500-700 AD?</p><p>Attributed to - Huns, Gurjuras, Chavdas</p><p>Overall rarity - Less common to Extremely rare</p><p>Price range - $15 - $100+</p><p><br /></p><p>Fabric</p><p>Flan diameter - Large (20-25mm)</p><p>Die size - Smaller than flan</p><p>Typical centering - Fair</p><p>Strike quality - Poor</p><p>Thickness - Thin</p><p>Weight - 3.7 - 4.1g</p><p>Typical wear - Heavily worn</p><p>Silver purity - High (90-95%)</p><p><br /></p><p>Design</p><p>Engraving skill - Good/fair</p><p>Design relief - Low (early) / outlines (late)</p><p><br /></p><p>General:</p><p>- All are copies of Peroz I's third crown type drachm, featuring a winged helmet and royal ribbons flanking the portrait on either side. The reverse features a fire altar flanked by two attendants, star/sun and moon above.</p><p>- These tend to be very high quality (90% or higher) silver and struck on reasonably thin, broad flans. They conform to a tight weight standard of about 3.8-4.1g, and diameter is 21-24mm in most cases.</p><p>- Most are poorly struck, usually with large areas that are entirely smooth.</p><p>- Most lack fine detail (in particular the faces of the attendants). Compared to the later Gadhaiya Paisa, however, most of these are very stylish and reflect that the individual coin may have been subject to the whims and skill of the celator.</p><p>- Variety is staggering; nearly every coin I have ever seen from this series could be said to be a separate variety. Die matches are seemingly very rare.</p><p>- The flan is almost always larger than the die, and the die border is comprised of a ring of what resembles shark's teeth. Some examples have design elements pass over and beyond this die border.</p><p><br /></p><p>Portrait:</p><p>- Styles and executions vary widely; few approach the levels of artistry seen on official Peroz drachms (a very, very few exceed it), but examples range from lifelike to schematized and cartoonish.</p><p>- All examples have a winged crown, helmet or hat</p><p>- All examples wear a pearl or beaded necklace</p><p>- All examples have shoulder pads beneath the portrait</p><p>- All examples have one ribbon before and one ribbon behind the portrait. Ribbons are composed of a "top" of three horizontal lines, and a "bottom" that is a thin curvy, roughly S-shaped line. On this series only, the bottom of the ribbon is often comprised of two, three, or four separate strokes.</p><p>- All examples have a hair bun behind the portrait, but it quickly becomes unrecognizable as such</p><p>- Most/All examples portray an earring, usually with three pearls; two attached to a chain, while the third is supsended beneath the other two.</p><p>- Most examples portray a beard.</p><p>- Few examples portray an orb above the helmet.</p><p>- Characteristic of this series, the helmet often has a decorative element at the top that can be compared to an antenna.</p><p>- Very few coins I have encountered show the crescent located at the front of Peroz's crown in official coins</p><p>- Many (but not all) examples have an unusually wide brim on the hat, sometimes extending all the way to the end of the die.</p><p>- No examples have a legend, pseudo-legend, or tamgha anywhere on the obverse</p><p>- Unlike the contemporary imitations from Central Asia, these coins never have four pellets around the obverse die border.</p><p><br /></p><p>Fire Altar:</p><p>- Fire altar is composed of 4 parts: (from top to bottom) The Flame, the Bowl, the Shaft, and the Base.</p><p>- Like the Peroz prototype, the Flame is usually a pyramid of dots arranged into even rows. The flame forms a triangular shape, usually by removing one dot for every row upward from the base. This is most commonly 4-3-2-1, but can also be 5-4-3-2-1. Some styles portray a solid flame, or tightly clustered dots or lozenge shapes that do not form lines.</p><p>- The bowl holds the flame, and is comprised of three horizontal lines, with the top being the widest. Most examples have crescent shapes on either side of the bowl, resembling parentheses. This is almost certainly a misunderstanding of certain coins of Peroz (and their imitations) in which the attendants gesture toward the flame.</p><p>- The shaft is a vertical pole that connects the bowl to the base. It begins as a rectangle, and often presents as a lozenge or diamond shape. It is quite small on many specimens.</p><p>- Two ribbons hang from the bottom of the fire altar bowl. On the original Peroz and very early imitations, these hang downward at roughly a 30 or 45 degree angle away from the fire altar shaft. Some do not have ribbons, but most portray the attendants holding the ribbon, which sags toward the middle.</p><p>- The base is at the bottom of the fire altar, and is three horizontal lines which mirror the bowl.</p><p>- Above the fire altar are a moon and a star or sun. On the Peroz prototype, the sun is at the left, and the moon is at the right. These can follow the "correct" pattern, or the positions can be switched. A small minority of coins seem to have two moons.</p><p><br /></p><p>Attendants:</p><p>- Both attendants wear dresses and have what appear to be breasts, so I take that to mean that they are both female. I really don't know if that is the correct interpretation, however.</p><p>- Unique to this series, both attendants wear a "thorn dress" or "herringbone" which is decorated with small points or spikes sticking out away from the body. These are very subtle on earlier coins, but many "late" coins take this to such extremes that the attendants almost look like fish skeletons. A minority of coins have dots rather than lines (as on the original Peroz) and some have a more realistic, three-dimensional dress.</p><p>- The attendants usually wear a necklace; this can be a solid line, or a string of dots.</p><p>- The attendants have one visible arm, which bends at the elbow to motion toward the fire altar/hold the ribbon. The arm never has a hand, and can either bend sharply or curve smoothly at the elbow.</p><p>- The attendants very rarely have facial features; the head is usually just a dot or tall oval.</p><p>- Some attendants have clear legs beneath the dress, while others have stubby dots beneath, or nothing at all.</p><p>- Some "late" styles reduce the dress to what appears to be a skirt; the spikes are still present, however.</p><p>- Very rarely, some examples have pseudo-legends or decorative lines behind one or both attendants, where the mint and name would be present on an official Peroz drachm.</p><p><br /></p><p>Within this series, I will group my coins into the following sub-series:</p><p><br /></p><p>1.1.1 - "Gurjura" Early Style Imitative</p><p>1.1.2 - "Hun Profile" </p><p>1.1.3 - Fancy hat type, large square jaw</p><p>1.1.4 - Fancy hat type, pointed nose</p><p>1.1.5 - Uncertain intermediate types</p><p>1.1.6 - Line style I</p><p>1.1.7 - Line Style II</p><p>1.1.8 - Line Style III</p><p>1.1.9 - Closing series[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Finn235, post: 3584948, member: 98035"]I've been blabbering about these long enough, might as well cross-post my write-ups on these coins for whoever might be interested! At the beginning of the Gadhaiya Paisa track is a series of enigmatic coins. Significantly more diverse than any other series, these remain something of a mystery. Leading theories hold that these were either brought into India from Hepthalite and other Hunnic tribes in the 6th-8th centuries, or that they are a native invention inspired by the coinage of the invaders. My readings seem to indicate that they originate outside of Gujarat at any rate, centralized in NW India. For the time being, and absent any raw data on actual hoard contents and find spots, I will attempt to refrain from any wild speculation and present these from a purely stylistic standpoint. The incredible variety present herein seems to argue that there is a huge spread here, but whether temporal, cultural, or simply artistic tastes of individual celatores, I cannot comment. I will attempt to place these into buckets based on style, but keep in mind that many (or all) of these sub-series were probably made concurrently. **Added: Maheshwari attributes these coins to the Gurjjar people, a warrior clan who originated in Central Asia. They supposedly migrated with the Hephtalites and/or Alchons during their invasion of India in the 500s as something between slaves and mercenaries-for-hire. They ultimately settled Gujarat permanently, and went on to found the Chaulukya dynasty - They ruled a small princely state there until the unification of India after 1947, and today are registered as a minority "Other Backwards Caste". ** Some consideration points for the series: Area - NW India/Afghanistan/Pakistan Time period - 500-700 AD? Attributed to - Huns, Gurjuras, Chavdas Overall rarity - Less common to Extremely rare Price range - $15 - $100+ Fabric Flan diameter - Large (20-25mm) Die size - Smaller than flan Typical centering - Fair Strike quality - Poor Thickness - Thin Weight - 3.7 - 4.1g Typical wear - Heavily worn Silver purity - High (90-95%) Design Engraving skill - Good/fair Design relief - Low (early) / outlines (late) General: - All are copies of Peroz I's third crown type drachm, featuring a winged helmet and royal ribbons flanking the portrait on either side. The reverse features a fire altar flanked by two attendants, star/sun and moon above. - These tend to be very high quality (90% or higher) silver and struck on reasonably thin, broad flans. They conform to a tight weight standard of about 3.8-4.1g, and diameter is 21-24mm in most cases. - Most are poorly struck, usually with large areas that are entirely smooth. - Most lack fine detail (in particular the faces of the attendants). Compared to the later Gadhaiya Paisa, however, most of these are very stylish and reflect that the individual coin may have been subject to the whims and skill of the celator. - Variety is staggering; nearly every coin I have ever seen from this series could be said to be a separate variety. Die matches are seemingly very rare. - The flan is almost always larger than the die, and the die border is comprised of a ring of what resembles shark's teeth. Some examples have design elements pass over and beyond this die border. Portrait: - Styles and executions vary widely; few approach the levels of artistry seen on official Peroz drachms (a very, very few exceed it), but examples range from lifelike to schematized and cartoonish. - All examples have a winged crown, helmet or hat - All examples wear a pearl or beaded necklace - All examples have shoulder pads beneath the portrait - All examples have one ribbon before and one ribbon behind the portrait. Ribbons are composed of a "top" of three horizontal lines, and a "bottom" that is a thin curvy, roughly S-shaped line. On this series only, the bottom of the ribbon is often comprised of two, three, or four separate strokes. - All examples have a hair bun behind the portrait, but it quickly becomes unrecognizable as such - Most/All examples portray an earring, usually with three pearls; two attached to a chain, while the third is supsended beneath the other two. - Most examples portray a beard. - Few examples portray an orb above the helmet. - Characteristic of this series, the helmet often has a decorative element at the top that can be compared to an antenna. - Very few coins I have encountered show the crescent located at the front of Peroz's crown in official coins - Many (but not all) examples have an unusually wide brim on the hat, sometimes extending all the way to the end of the die. - No examples have a legend, pseudo-legend, or tamgha anywhere on the obverse - Unlike the contemporary imitations from Central Asia, these coins never have four pellets around the obverse die border. Fire Altar: - Fire altar is composed of 4 parts: (from top to bottom) The Flame, the Bowl, the Shaft, and the Base. - Like the Peroz prototype, the Flame is usually a pyramid of dots arranged into even rows. The flame forms a triangular shape, usually by removing one dot for every row upward from the base. This is most commonly 4-3-2-1, but can also be 5-4-3-2-1. Some styles portray a solid flame, or tightly clustered dots or lozenge shapes that do not form lines. - The bowl holds the flame, and is comprised of three horizontal lines, with the top being the widest. Most examples have crescent shapes on either side of the bowl, resembling parentheses. This is almost certainly a misunderstanding of certain coins of Peroz (and their imitations) in which the attendants gesture toward the flame. - The shaft is a vertical pole that connects the bowl to the base. It begins as a rectangle, and often presents as a lozenge or diamond shape. It is quite small on many specimens. - Two ribbons hang from the bottom of the fire altar bowl. On the original Peroz and very early imitations, these hang downward at roughly a 30 or 45 degree angle away from the fire altar shaft. Some do not have ribbons, but most portray the attendants holding the ribbon, which sags toward the middle. - The base is at the bottom of the fire altar, and is three horizontal lines which mirror the bowl. - Above the fire altar are a moon and a star or sun. On the Peroz prototype, the sun is at the left, and the moon is at the right. These can follow the "correct" pattern, or the positions can be switched. A small minority of coins seem to have two moons. Attendants: - Both attendants wear dresses and have what appear to be breasts, so I take that to mean that they are both female. I really don't know if that is the correct interpretation, however. - Unique to this series, both attendants wear a "thorn dress" or "herringbone" which is decorated with small points or spikes sticking out away from the body. These are very subtle on earlier coins, but many "late" coins take this to such extremes that the attendants almost look like fish skeletons. A minority of coins have dots rather than lines (as on the original Peroz) and some have a more realistic, three-dimensional dress. - The attendants usually wear a necklace; this can be a solid line, or a string of dots. - The attendants have one visible arm, which bends at the elbow to motion toward the fire altar/hold the ribbon. The arm never has a hand, and can either bend sharply or curve smoothly at the elbow. - The attendants very rarely have facial features; the head is usually just a dot or tall oval. - Some attendants have clear legs beneath the dress, while others have stubby dots beneath, or nothing at all. - Some "late" styles reduce the dress to what appears to be a skirt; the spikes are still present, however. - Very rarely, some examples have pseudo-legends or decorative lines behind one or both attendants, where the mint and name would be present on an official Peroz drachm. Within this series, I will group my coins into the following sub-series: 1.1.1 - "Gurjura" Early Style Imitative 1.1.2 - "Hun Profile" 1.1.3 - Fancy hat type, large square jaw 1.1.4 - Fancy hat type, pointed nose 1.1.5 - Uncertain intermediate types 1.1.6 - Line style I 1.1.7 - Line Style II 1.1.8 - Line Style III 1.1.9 - Closing series[/QUOTE]
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Indo Sassanian Coinage, Series 1.1 - Early types
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