1884.] V. A. Smith —Gold Coins of the Imperial Gupta Dynasty. 
121 
cient currency in that metal and, as in modern times, a large propor¬ 
tion of the small change required may have consisted of cowries, and of 
tokens issued by private persons. 
The gold coinage of the Gupta kings is, on many grounds, of excep¬ 
tional interest. The great variety of type is remarkable, and suggests 
many problems in the history of art, religion, and nations. Though 
some of the types are common, others are of extreme rarity, and to be 
reckoned among the most desirable treasures of the Oriental numis¬ 
matist. The proper attribution of several of the types is doubtful, and 
supplies a theme for abundant discussion, and for the exercise of numis¬ 
matic acumen. The execution of many of the coins is of a comparatively 
high order of art, and the design is not unworthy of the execution ; while, 
in most of the types, both design and execution have such strongly 
marked national characteristics that they are far more interesting than 
the mere imitations of foreign work which are found in the majority of 
Indian coinages. Foreign ideas are clearly traceable in this series 
of coins, but they are, in the best types, skilfully assimilated and Hindu- 
ized. 
The Hindu character of nearly all the Gupta gold coins is a plainly 
* G-eneral Canningliam informs me that, so far as he knows, only one copper 
coin of Knmara Gupta has yet been found. It has not been published. Sir E. C. 
Bayley {Num. Chron. for 1882 p. 158) mentions the Gupta copper coins as being 
“ among the rarest of all Indian coins,” and expresses a belief that they “ seldom 
occur except in the immediate neighbourhood of the Gupta capital, Kanauj ” [stc.] 
Copper coins, as Prof. Gardner has observed (Gated, of Seleucid Coins, p. xxxii), 
are very seldom dug up far from their place of mintage, and, therefore, if Sir E. C. 
Bayley’s belief as to the provenance of the Gupta copper pieces is correct, the com¬ 
mon opinion that Kanauj was the Gupta capital would receive some support. But, 
the evidence, so far as it goes, indicates that the copper coins, like those in gold, 
were coined further east. Prinsep describes six specimens, and of these three were 
from the cabinet of Mr. Tregear, who collected at Jaunpur. The other three were 
respectively in the Stacy, Swiney, and Prinsep collections, and it is not said that any 
of them came from Kanauj. I have not any further information as to the find-spots 
of the Gupta copper coins. Sir E. C. Bayley in the passage above quoted rather 
exaggerates the rarity of the copper issues of Chandra Gupta II. Ten specimens 
are in the British Museum, and one is in the India Office collection. The cabinet of 
the Asiatic Society of Bengal contains “ many ” similar to fig. 15 in PI. XXX of 
Prinsep’s Essays, one like fig. 12 of the same plate, and one of the ‘ vase’ type as figured 
in J. A. S. B. XXXIV, PI. Y. figs. 20, 21. General Cunningham and Mr. Grant 
possess specimens, and Mr. Theobald has a large coin, a duplicate of Prinsep’s fig. 11, 
the obverse of which presents the king shaded by an umbrella. Further specimens 
doubtless exist in the cabinets of other collectors. See Prinsep’s Essays, Vol. I, 
pp. 374-375, and PL XXX, figs. 11-15 ; Ariana Antiqua, PI. XYIII, fig. 15 (the same 
as Prinsep’s fig. 14) ; and J. A. S. B. Vol. XXXIV (18G8) p. 125, and PI. V. figs. 20 
and 21. 
