1855»] On the Coins of the Gupta Dynasty. 509 



A coin of Mr. Freeling's that I have now before me, of apparently 

 early date presenting a well defined and nearly complete legend, 

 promises materially to advance the enquiry and to furnish a key to 

 the strangely distorted letters stamped on the later emanations from 

 the parent mint. I proceed to describe the piece in the ordinary 

 form. 



Silver, weight 27 grains. 



Obverse. — The usual Sah head, apparently but little modified. 

 This surface of the coin is damaged, but fully one-half the marginal 

 space, around the profile, remains uninjured and in the total absence 

 of any sign of a letter confirms my previous supposition,* that the 

 use of the Greek legend was not extended to this class of coin* 



Reverse. — Device, a barbarized imitation of the Minerva Proma- 

 chos of the Bactrian Coinage. 



I was once disposed to look upon the singular figure on the re- 

 verse of those coins as the Buddhist device of a man ; I was led to 

 this conclusion by the similarity of the form of the figure sketched 

 by Jas. Prinsep, in fig. 21, PI. XVIII. Vol. III. J. A. S. B. to that 

 occurring on the Behat type of coins ;f but I now observe that Prin- 

 sep, in his second engraving of the same coin IV. PI. XLIX. 9, omits 

 the left arm, in its downward position, which constituted the most 

 essential point of Behat identity. 



Legend. ?X% ^r^re*^[ W^TTC^^SiVr^^ 

 Variants? ^ft* ^ £ T 3i 



Prof. Hall, confesses himself fairly baffled by this legend : I there- 

 fore allow it to stand as originally transcribed from the coin, 

 trusting that new specimens may hereafter aid in the due interpre- 

 tation. The configuration of certain letters in these legends how- 

 ever demands a passing notice. The character which Prinsep took 

 for Fr. &c, is now satisfactorily proved to be a *T ; the form is pe- 

 culiar, but still it bears sufficient affinity to the general idea of the 

 Gupta H. In the later specimens of the coinage, its upper section 



* " One item seems safely deducible from the unoccupied margin, to be found 

 around the bust in the broader coins, viz., that the use of Greek or its attempted 

 representation was here discontinued." J. R. A.. S. XII. 63. 



t J. A. S. B. IV. PI. XXXIV. 16, PI. XXXV. figs. 45-47, &c. 



3x2 



