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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Finn235, post: 3772429, member: 98035&quot;](Continued)</p><p>To illustrate my point about the &quot;Orthodox&quot; series 1.4.3, here are six of mine side by side. Note that despite very slight variations, thy are nearly all identical. Even the moon points in the same direction, the crescent generally opening toward the 2:00 position. The upper left is an exemplary example of how well the reverse die can fit on the coin, where as the upper right has probably 99% of the obverse die on the coin.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1008886[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>After the Orthodox small head series, the coins branch out significantly in terms of style, although a majority of specimens still retain the eye line. Those with the eye line are series 1.4.4. Note that some have large heads, some small; some have curved heads and others are more straight. The moon on the reverse can open in any direction, although most have it open somewhere between the 1:00 and 6:00 position.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1008882[/ATTACH]</p><p>A smaller portion (about 25%) of coins do not have the eye line - these which are still in good style and workmanship are 1.4.5.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1008883[/ATTACH]</p><p>Note that there is no singular point at which the eye line disappears - this is a curiosity that I cannot readily explain.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1008884[/ATTACH]</p><p>Toward the end of the series, we see the workmanship begin to decline; the dots are less carefully arranged, the flan shrinks in diameter while it thickens, and the weight shifts from about 4.2g to upwards of 4.5g. At some point in this series, the attendants break down into simple rows of dots, no longer identifiable as heads, necklaces, and breasts above the arms. These are tentatively 1.4.6.</p><p>***We have another historical anchor here; the Chauhan queen Somalladevi, (1110-1135) was reportedly enamored with coins such as these, and had her husband make copies of these coins with her name. Thus, it is apparent that all coins between 1.2.7 and 1.4.6 were minted between 1022 and 1135!***</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1008885[/ATTACH]</p><p>Finally comes 1.4.7, the closing type for this series. The artistry begins to break down and little besides the portrait is usually visible on the coin. The coin at the top seems to be the final hurrah of the eye line. These coins are distinguished from later types by still having crescent nostrils and lips, even though the later types have the nostril flattened out to a line.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1008888[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Now 1.4 comes to a close in favor of 1.5, the last in the series, which I call the Vaghela type for lack of a better term. The exact transition is not at all clear to me, but Vaghela drachms can be distinguished by their reversion to using dots for the nostril and lips of the portrait, as well as quickly dropping the eye from the portrait. </p><p><br /></p><p>The second coin from the left is a one-off; I have only seen one other coin like it (Which I purchased from eBay India, but got swindled out of my money <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie3" alt=":(" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /> ) It is remarkable in that it shows how far the attendants have degraded into meaningless piles of dots, as well as the unusual Vaghela feature of pushing the upper three lines of the obverse ribbons to the side. Vaghela drachms usually show the backwards S ribbon directly beneath the dotted brim of the hat, but this one still shows a bit of the ribbons above it. The coin at the right clearly shows the ribbons being pushed to the side!</p><p><br /></p><p>I am still working through how to categorize Vaghela type Gadhaiyas.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1008887[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Here we see the final phases of the displacement of the obverse ribbon; the coin in the middle shows a bit of the line nested into the curve of what should be the bottom (!) while the coin on the right simply shows the lower portion bumping right up into the brim of the hat.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1008881[/ATTACH] </p><p>From this point the coins become crude, finally ending with the face being an almost indistinguishable cluster of dots around a central pill shape. These final coins have negligible silver content.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1008880[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>That wraps up the main line of Gadhaiya, save for the peripheral series minted further to the east in Malwa; I will have to save those for another day!</p><p><br /></p><p>Although it doesn&#039;t go into nearly the depth that I hope to reach, this was much easier than writing up a couple paragraphs for each of my 300+ coins in this series![/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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