1894.] V. A. Smith —History and Coinage of the Gupta Period. 177 
Little Kusan (Indo-Scythian) coins. The general result may be given 
in the author’s words:—“The coins of all the earlier kings give an 
average weight of 123 grains, of which 107 grains are pure ; 1 while 64 
coins of the Kusan kings Wema Kadphises, Kaniska, Huviska, 
and the earlier specimens of Vasu Deva, give exactly the same average. 
The later coins of Vasu Leva show a falling off in the pure contents 
of nearly 10 grains. But towards the end of Skanda Gupta’s reign, 2 the 
Gupta gold coins became much heavier, reaching an average of from 144 
to 146 grains, while the pure contents were decreased to less than 70 
grains. The coins of Nara Sigha Gupta of this standard are thus only 
one-half gold, and are, therefore, worth only two-thirds of the earlier 
Gupta dinars. A singular exception is the money of Praka^aditya, of a 
bright yellow colour, which contains 121*7 grains of pure metal out of 
146’4. 3 At present I cannot even guess the reason of this strange freak. 
The single coin of Jaya Gupta is still more debased, the pure contents 
being only one-fifth of its weight. 1 take it to belong to a much 
later date.” 
The purity of the coinage of Praka^aditya shows that the revival 
of the ancient Hindu suvarna standard of 144 to 146 grains was a reali¬ 
ty, and that the extra weight of the heavy coinage initiated by Skanda 
Gupta was not merely a compensation for excess of alloy. 
PART IV.— The Coinage of the Later Kusans (Indo-Scythians). 
Section I. Great Kusans. 
Section II. Little Kusans. 
Essays, replete with learning, prepared by the late Sir Alexander 
Cunningham towards the close of his life, and published in the Numis¬ 
matic Chronicle for 1893, and the Transactions of the International 
Coyigress of Orientalists (London, 1892), have done much to elucidate 
the very obscure and perplexing history and coinage of the so-called 
Later Indo-Scythians. 
The term Later Indo-Scythians is vague and inconvenient, and 
has come into use merely as a cloak for ignorance. It will, I hope, 
1 The coins of Kacha are the worst among the issues of the earlier kings. The 
figures for him are :—Full weight about 123 ; highest weight IIS’S ; pure gold 102’5 ; 
alloy 20’5, equivalent to 16 66 per cent. (V. A. S.) 
2 Skanda Gupta’s King and Queen coins are dinars; his Kramaditya coins are 
suvarnas. [V. A. S.] 
3 Equivalent to 16’64 per cent, of alloy, a return to the standard of Kacha. 
The personal name and date of Prakz^aditya are not known. [V, A. S.] 
