This guy was on the list! A perfect fit in my collection of South Indian Gold(ish) coins. This coin I scored of Vcoins from an Indian dealer, taking full advantage of the Dawali festival of Lights mark down sale. This bad boy is now my cheapest gold alloy coin. This coin is attributed to the Kalachuri Dynasty of Tripuri, ruling parts of Central India and Deccan in the 11th and 12th centuries. Thought to be descendants of the early Kalachuri of which a few 6th century rulers are known, like this guy who I just happened to have a coin of....Krishna Raja, one of the strong men in the post-Gupta period power vacuum. Kalachuri in Deccan Krishna Raja (AD 550-575) AR Drachm 11 mm x 2.02 grams Obverse: Bust of KrishnaRaja right. Reverse: Humped Bull- Brahmi legend- PARAMA MAHESVARAMATA PITRI PAD ANUDHYATA SRI KARISHNA RAJA "The devout worshiper of Siva who meditates at the feet of his mother and father the lord Karishna Raja." Fast forward to the 11th century. This dynasty grew fairly strong and maintained strong relationships with the Imperial Cholas, which we have heard so much about in the previous months...remember this guy? In the late 12th century much of the territory controlled by the Kalachuri was annexed and subjugated by the those rivals of the Chola the Chalukya. (These guys) So getting to the that $100 Electrum stater...here you go... India, Kalachuris of Tripuri Gangeya Deva (c. AD 1015-1041) and successors EL stater 21 mm x 3.71 grams Obverse: Goddess Lakshmi seated facing Reverse: Devanagari legend Srimad Gan/geyade/(vah) Ref: John Deyell, Living Without Silver, 119 Gangeya Deva began issuing gold coins carrying the image of a seated Lakshmi, taking his cue from the earlier Gupta coinage tradition. Gold was scarce in the 11th century, but his design was nevertheless copied by neighbouring kings. This coin type remained the standard in central India for the next 2 centuries till the Muslim invasion. This specimen appears to have a high silver content. It was probably struck posthumously by the successors of Gangeya Deva in the early to mid 12th century.
Very intriguing and beautiful coins, one and all. The newbie seems to have juuust enough gold to give it that characteristic electrum tint.
It seems unnecessary and inaccurate. We already have the term electrum, and neither silver nor gold are base metals, at least by current definitions.
another neat coin i didn't know existed! an interesting abstract design. so, there is an inverted pear shape with some dots transected by an arch...and are the long extensions below her folded legs? is it all kind of up to interpretation?
The seated Lakshmi is a reoccurring theme on some Indian coins. See here the rare seated plaque coin of Sri Lanka and I have a silver issue of the seated Lakshmi but I do not have a photo on this computer. I believe the long extensions below her folded legs are in fact her feat. Some other types have more detail in the design. This is a later coin that became somewhat dumpy in execution.
pretty cool, Noob (congrats) ..... Curious, is that a tight-flan, or do they all look like that? Man, I love the toned colour (very rugged)
Good question Steve! The coin exists in several variations one more dumpy than the last. This is a much later example than the original. The flan is actually broader than most of the type. Most are about 19-20 mm this is a little wider than most but nearly all are pretty dumpy from an artistic point of view. I agree I love the color and it is pretty rugged. Buyer beware there are very good plated fakes abound. A gentleman I am friends with in India told me he saw a guy selling a lot of 1000 fakes for $20 a pop. Yikes.
