126 V. A. Smith— Goins of the Imperial Gupta Dynasty. [No. 2, 
IX. Goddess seated on f 
back of conchant 
lion; 
,, a. holding fillet and 
cornncopia. 
,, p. holding fillet and 
lotns, or fillet^ 
only, or lotns 
only. 
Chandra Gupta I. 
Chandra Gupta II. 
King & Queen. 
Lion-Trampler. 
Combatant Li- 
55 
on. 
„ 5 5 5 5 Retreating „ 
Kumara Gupta Mahendra .Lion- Trampler. 
Prinsep quickly perceived that the ‘ Kanauj series,’ as he called 
the Gupta gold coinage, was a continuation, and, to some extent, an 
imitation of the Indo-Scythian mintages ; and the intimate relation be¬ 
tween the two series of coins is well exhibited in Plate XXXVI of Vol. V 
of the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal {PI. XXIX of Prinsep's 
PJssays; ed. Thomas'). 
The same relation is more amply demonstrated by the series of 
plates in the Ariana Antiqua, and Wilson was rightly convinced {p. 418) 
that “ the coins of the Gupta princes succeeded immediately to those of 
the Mithraic princes.” The fact of such immediate succession appears 
to my mind indisputable, and is in itself fatal to the theories of those 
authors who seek to date the imperial Gupta dynasty in the fourth and 
fifth centuries A. D. I am convinced that to a certain extent the Indo- 
Scythian and the Gupta gold coinages were actually contemporary. 
The standing king, engaged in sacrificing at a small altar, who ap¬ 
pears on the obverse of the coins of Ghatot Kacha, is almost an exact 
copy of the corresponding figure on many coins of Kanerki and other 
Indo-Scythian princes. 
The altar appears again in the Javelin coins of Samudra Gupta, 
in the (d variety of the Archer type of the same prince, and in the Swords¬ 
man and Umbrella type, which I attribute to Chandra Gupta II; and it 
is seen for the last time in the unique Swordsman coin of Kumara Gupta. 
The supposition has been hazarded that the object referred to is a vessel 
containing the sacred plant {Ocymum sanctum)^ and not an altar, 
but comparison with the Indo-Scythian coins proves certainly that it is 
the latter. Moreover, in at least one specimen in the British Museum 
collection, the grains of incense falling on the fire-altar are plainly 
indicated. 
