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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Finn235, post: 3585012, member: 98035&quot;]<b>1.1.9 - Closing Series</b></p><p><br /></p><p>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:</p><p><br /></p><p><b>The attendants do not hold the fire altar ribbons, which now lay along the base of the fire altar</b></p><p><br /></p><p>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.</p><p><br /></p><p>1.1.9.1 - Closing Series I - Hunnic face, Skirt attendants</p><p><br /></p><p>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.</p><p><br /></p><p>1.1.9.1 Coin 1</p><p>22mm</p><p>[ATTACH=full]956982[/ATTACH] </p><p>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&#039;s book) prove that this is in fact a variety, regardless of how many pieces are missing to this puzzle.</p><p><br /></p><p>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.</p><p><br /></p><p>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. <b>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.</b> 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.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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