(Two coins) Kuninda. AE reduced karshapanas (late 1st century BCE- 80 CE). Obverse: Deer facing right, goddess standing, Brahmi legend around (mostly off flan) citing King Amoghabhuti. Reverse: Stupa surrounded by other symbols including a swastika and a tree in railing. MACW 4451- 4464. These coins: Purchased from Educational Coin Company at the Baltimore Whitman Coin Expo, March 5, 2026. Kuninda was a state located in northern India, stretching along the foothills of the Himalayas and extending to the border with Nepal. Not much historical information is available. Starting in the late 2nd century BCE coins were first issued, in the name of King Amoghabhuti, as silver drachms or bronze karshapanas, with very similar designs to this piece except that the silver drachms also bore a legend on the reverse, but in Kharosthi script. The bronze coinage continued, with frozen legend but decreasing size and gradually degrading artistry, until 80 CE, when Kuninda was incorporated into the expanding Kushan kingdom. The central feature of the reverse design is a stupa, a type of dome-shaped Buddhist monument. Other symbols on the reverse include a swastika (a symbol of prosperity and harmony in Hinduism and Buddhism) and a tree with a fence or railing around it symbolizing the Bodhi tree under which the Gautama Buddha achieved enlightenment. I chose these two examples from a $15 pick bin because there are some major differences in style- on one coin the tree is to the left and swastika to the right, while these symbols are on the opposite sides on the other. Also, on the right coin it looks kind of like there is a stick-figure person standing on the stupa, though I don't think that is the intended interpretation. Please post your coins of Kuninda, or Indian snacks (maybe some nice samosas?), or whatever else is related.
Great little sandwich snack, @Parthicus! Cool! Yes, yet even ODLER ones exist. The absolute oldest coins featuring this geometric shape are the Archaic Greek coins of Ionia (modern-day western Turkey). Here are 2 examples from ACS: (Clicking on the image will enlarge it.) In the late 5th and early 4th century BC coins of Gaza included a very similar symbol, which is called a Marnas symbol. It is a sloppy-swastika, as it was not intended to be geometrically square. Here is a coin from Gaza from my collection: GAZA, PHILISTIA, AR OBOL Date: Circa 370 BC Obv.: Head of Athena to right, wearing crested Attic helmet Rev.: Owl to right, crescent left, AOE downward, lower right Marnas symbol. Weight: .68 g. Diam.: 9.7 mm. Attrib.: Hendin 6013 (RR). Gitler & Tal V.21O Note: ex- J.P. Fontanille sale April 2014, Lot #1. $375.
