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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Finn235, post: 4256787, member: 98035&quot;]Very excited to announce this minuscule discovery in an obscure corner of numismatics!</p><p><br /></p><p>One of the most iconic members of the Indo-Sassanian family is the terminus of the third and easternmost &quot;track&quot;, attributed to the Pratihara dynasty - the Adivaraha-dramma.</p><p><br /></p><p>It is unique not only for being the least Sassanian of all Indo-sassanian coins, retaining only the vestigial fire altar shaft with highly stylized attendants, but it is also the only coin firmly attributable to both its medieval name in inscriptions and its historic issuer, Mihira Bhoja I, r. 836-885 AD.</p><p><br /></p><p>Obv: Adivaraha, the boar avatar of Vishnu, standing right in heroic pose, stomping on a lion, flanked by Trishula and chakra wheel</p><p>Rev: Nagari: Sri Ma Madi / Va Ra Ha above vestigial fire altar, flanked by highly stylized attendants</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1085421[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Although this coin is a top contender for a lifetime issue, the type was extended for up to a century, becoming more crude but ultimately unchanged until Vinayakapala, who changed the inscription to his own name (and unfortunately I don&#039;t have one to share - yet!)</p><p><br /></p><p>To unpack the significance of my new coin, it is important to analyze the types that preceded it.</p><p><br /></p><p>The Adivaraha dramma borrowed the bottom portion of its reverse motif from the &quot;Sri Vi&quot; drachm, which is quite a bit more recognizably Sassanian:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1085424[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>The Sri Vi is perhaps either a descendant or at least relative to the Sri Vigra, which have differently styled attendants and importantly replace the fire altar shaft with a letter- either Sa or Ma (here pictured is Ma, the more common). It takes a lot less imagination to unpack the reverse motif here.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1085426[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>Before the Sri Vigra were a series of what Maheshwari calls proto Sri Vigra coins, which he believes are anepigraphic, but I am inclined to see a stylized Sri Ja. There are two (or three) fundamental types - Type 1 has a more solid attendant body, where as this coin is Type 2 - the attendant&#039;s legs lead directly to her arm.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1085425[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>Enter the new coin:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1085420[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>I am not fully certain what to make of all this, but let&#039;s unpack:</p><p>- The reverse is clearly an intermediate Adivaraha type; the body disappeared pretty quickly, based on the number of surviving specimens, so let&#039;s estimate ca. 900-925 AD here.</p><p>- The legend seems to read Sri Ma Madi / Va Ra Ha above the fire altar, also in good style reinforcing that this is probably an earlier posthumous type</p><p>- This coin however has Ma replacing the fire altar shaft, not the &quot;candy bar&quot; that is seen on every other specimen in existence! This is a throwback to the Sri Vigra / Ma type</p><p>- The attendant however seems to most closely match the Proto Sri Vigra / Type 2 attendant - again unique as every other specimen has the abdomen/legs replaced with the teardrop shape.</p><p><br /></p><p>What it all means? I&#039;m afraid I can&#039;t share any earth-shattering insights as of yet, but this initial find proves that the series is perhaps not as straightforward as others such as Maheshwari, Deyell et al initially thought.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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