132 V. A. Smith —Gold Coins of tlie Imperial Gupta Dynasty. [No, 2, 
as a monster, half man and half bird. I prefer Mr. Thomas’ former 
opinion that “ the most natural and obvious interpretation is to look upon 
it as designed to represent the peacock, which appears with such fre¬ 
quency on the gold coins, and occupies the entire reverse field of one 
type of the silver coinage. 
It is, however, quite possible that the emblem is merely a copy of 
the Roman eagle, and the term ‘ bird-standard,’ which involves no theory, 
is the safest to adopt. 
In his Archer type Samudra Gupta substitutes for the javelin in the 
king’s hand a bow, and the device thus introduced long remained the 
favourite obverse pattern. It is found on the coins of Chandra Gu23ta II, 
Kumara Gupta, and Skanda Gupta, and is, with few exceptions, the only 
design used by the rude imitators of the Gupta types, some of whose 
coins are noticed in the Supplement to the Catalogue. 
It seems impossible at present to decide whether the Archer device 
was an independent invention, or was borrowed from Persia or some other 
foreign source, and it is equally doubtful whether it has or has not any 
symbolic meaning. If it has, it may be regarded as another expedient for 
indicating the analogy between the sun that rules the heavens, and the 
king who rules the earth. Chandra Gupta II issued gold coins of at least 
eight different types, but specially favoured the Archer type, specimens 
of which in large numbers have been found. 
The Lyrist type of Samudra Gupta’s coinage, which depicts the 
king as a musician playing the Indian lyre, is interesting in several 
respects.f The type is rare, and the specimens known are mostly in fine 
condition, and, with the exception of the India Office example, are broad 
thin coins well struck, but in singularly low relief. The dress of the 
king is thoroughly Hindu, but his attitude recalls that of the king on the 
Indo-Scythian coins classed as ‘ couch-loungers ’ by Prinsep. The re¬ 
verse device is likewise in appearance completely Hindu, though ap¬ 
parently suggested by foreign models. It consists of a female seated 
sideways to the left on a wicker stool, and holding fillet and cornucopia. 
The attitude of the goddess, and the form of the stool on which she sits 
recall the device of Apollo seated on the o/xc^akos , with its cover of the 
dypyvov net, as seen on the Seleucid coins of Syria,J; and I believe that 
* J. A. S. B. XXIY, (1855) p. 494, note. In ‘Eecords of the Gupta Dynasty’ 
(1876) p. 23, Mr. Thomas adopts the Garuda interpretation. 
f Line 24 of the Allahabad Pillar inscription mentions Samndra Gupta’s accom¬ 
plishments in singing and playing. (Prinsep’s Essays, pp. 233 seqq.) 
J E. g., the coins of Antiochns I, figured in J. A. S. B. Vol. L. for 1881, p. 178, 
and PI. XVIII, 14, 15. General Cunningham calls the seat ‘ cortina,’ but ‘ om¬ 
phalos ’ is more correct. 
