1894.] V. A. Smith — History and Coinage of the Gupta Period. 175 
age, like the contemporary silver hemidrachms, bear the reverse device 
of a peacock with expanded tail. 
In addition to the few examples of this northern copper coinage, 
noted in Observations , p. 138, I may now add the following. 
Lucknow Museum— Two specimens of Kumar a Gupta from 
Sahcankot in the Unao district. Two specimens of Skanda Gupta from 
Kosarn (Kau 9 ambi), near Allahabad. One specimen of Skanda Gupta 
from Ajodhya. 
Hoey.—One worn specimen, probably of Kumara Gupta, from 
Oudh. 
None of these coins show any signs of plating. 
Addendum to Parts J, II, and III 
Sir Alexander Cunningham’s valuable posthumous work on the 
Goins of Mediseval India came to hand too late for me to make use of 
it in the preceding text. But it contains a considerable amount of novel 
matter concerning the Guptas, which must be noticed in an essay pro¬ 
fessing to bring Gupta numismatics up to date. 
Cunningham, without giving any reasons, has adopted the reading 
Puru Gupta, as that of the name of the son of Kumara Gupta I, in the 
Bhitari Seal record. He never saw the original, and his reading can¬ 
not be accepted for reasons already stated {ante, p. 166). 
Cunningham fixes Skanda Gupta’s accession to undisputed power 
in the Gupta year 134, or A.D. 452 (misprinted 152 in text, p. 11). 
This date, which I also had adopted (Observations , p. 83), is too early. 
Dr. Yost has lately acquired a hemidrachm of Kumara Gupta I, with 
a well preserved date, which is 136. 
Cunningham figures (Plate II, 1) a coin of Nara Baladitya to 
show that the character between the king’s feet must be read Gu , not 
gre, and he interprets the character read Gu , as a contraction of 
Gupta. But he overlooks the very distinct vowel mark for e, shown 
in his plate, and in mine ( Coinage , PI iii., 11). This mark is equally 
plain on a coin from Bhitari in my possession. With all respect, there¬ 
fore, for Cunningham’s opinion, I adhere to my reading gre. On 
Gupta coins the word Gupta is never abbreviated, and never placed 
between the king’s feet. The form of the character which Cunningham 
reads as Gu , and I read as gr, is identical with one of the forms of 
the numeral 7 in some of the Gupta inscriptions. 1 
1 See Bhagwan Lai Indraji’s paper on Ancient Indian Numerals ( Tnd . Ant 
Yol, VI, p. 42.) 
J. i, 23 
