1837.] Specimens of Indo-Sassanian Coins. 295 



Fifteen years ago Colonel Caulfield sent me two coins dug up at 

 Kota, where he was then Resident, which were engraved in PI. III. of 

 the Asiatic Researches, XVII. as fig. 65. It seemed then perfectly 

 hopeless to attempt a guess at their nature — but now we can pro- 

 nounce precisely the meaning of every rude mark they contain — the 

 fire-altar and its attendant priests, and the bust of the prince on the 

 obverse. Colonel Stacy's collection has furnished the chief links of 

 this investigation, but it is to Captain Cunningham's examination of it 

 and careful analysis of the numerous small silver Vardhas of our several 

 cabinets that we are indebted for the knowledge of the balusters, 

 parallelograms and dots being all resolvable into the same fire-altar 

 and its attendants. Indeed se long ago as January 1836, he wrote 

 me from Benares his conjectures that this series was descended from 

 the Parthian coins. 



From the selection he had assorted to trace out and illustrate this 

 curious fact, I have been obliged to restrict myself to such as my 

 plate would contain ; giving the preference to those that exhibit well 

 defined letters on some part of the field. 



Fig. 7, silver. Col. Stacy. Obverse, the Sassanian head in its de- 

 generated state, or cut in outline : the hair is represented by a mere 

 ball, the ear by a curve, &c. ; the two stiffened muslin lappets rise 

 from each shoulder as in figs. 3 and 5, and would be utterly unintel- 

 ligible but for the light thus afforded. Above the head is the Sanskrit 

 ^ (resembling the Gaur or Bengali form) and in front of the mouth 

 the letter <& which is most probably a *i or bh. On the reverse 

 of this coin the fire-altar is very discernible, and it is instructive 

 to study the configuration of the two supporters, the flame, and the 

 altar itself, so as to be able to follow out the subsequent bar- 

 barization they were doomed to undergo. Thus in fig. 8 (Col. 

 Stacy) they lose a little more : — in 9 (ditto) the two breast dots and 

 the curve of the arm separating them from the body are barely 

 traceable. In Col. Stacy's copper coins 11 and 12, the engraver has 

 collocated the various dots and lines without any regard to their intent 

 or symmetry. Then in 13, 14, which are precisely similar to the 

 class engraved in figs. 17, 19, 20, PL L. vol. IV., the fire altar is 

 transformed into a kind of spear-head, or the central shaft taken out and 

 supplanted by the old Nagari letter 8i m ; but the side figures, where 

 the die permits of it, can still be readily made out. These general 

 remarks will save the necessity of describing the reverse of each coin 

 in detail. There are equally grotesque varieties in the contour of the 

 face on the obverse, which none but an experienced eye could trace : 

 2 q 2 



