122 V. A. Smith —Gold Goins of the Imperial Gupta Dynasty. [No. 2, 
legible record of a native reaction directed by the Gupta kings against the 
domination of the foreign Scythian ideas.* * * § 
The nnmerons, and frequently well preserved, legends on the coins 
of the Gupta dynasty offer much interesting material for the study of 
the historian and palaeographer. 
In addition to all the above reasons which render attractive the 
study of the Gupta gold coinage, another is furnished by the chaotic state 
of the literature on the subject and the incompleteness of the existing 
catalogues, which loudly call for re-arrangement and revision. 
The difficulty experienced by myself in studying the coins with the 
help of existing publications first induced me to make an attempt to 
summarize and systematise the known facts. The work has grown under 
my hands, and, imperfect as it is in many respects, I trust that the 
labour bestowed upon it may not have been altogether thrown away. 
“No trouble,” says Dr, Burnell, “ is thrown away, which saves 
trouble to others,”! even if I have failed to solve any of the nu¬ 
merous historical and numismatic problems suggested by the study of 
these coins, I can scarcely have failed in smoothing the path for investi¬ 
gators more fully equipped with the needful learning and technical 
experience. I have been encouraged in my undertaking by the recently 
expressed opinion of General Cunningham that “ the gold coins of the 
Guptas require to be carefully re-examined.”! 
So far as my opportunities permitted I have made a careful exa¬ 
mination of this series of coins, and now submit the results of the investi¬ 
gation and the opinions I have formed to the candid criticism of all 
competent judges in the hope that they will supplement my facts where 
they are incomplete, and correct my opinions where they are erroneous. 
I have endeavoured to work in the spirit of the words of Saint- 
Hilaire :—“ La Numismatique est patiente, et elle amasse les faits speci- 
aux qui la concernent, jusqu’a ce que 1 ’ histoire vienne plus tard en 
dormer la vffiutable clef, si jamais elle le peut.”§ 
Section II.—Types and Devices. 
In Mr. Thomas’ valuable catalogues || the several types and varieties 
are distinguished by an arbitrary alphabetical notation, for example, 
* In the N. W. P. Gazetteer for Basti {Vol. VI, p. 718) the rise of the Gupta 
dynasty is absurdly described as a triumph of Buddhism over Hinduism. Sri Gupta 
may have been a Buddhist possibly, but certainly his successors were all Hindus. 
t Quoted in Max Muller’s ‘ India, What can it Teach Us,’ p. vii. 
J Proc. A. S. B. August 1882, p. 113, 
§ Journal des Savants for 1865, p. 413. 
II J. A. S. B. XXIV, pp. 487-502; and Prinsep’s Essays, Vol. I, pp. 377-387. 
