1884.] V. A. Smith.— Gold Coins of the Imperial Gupta By^iasty. 163 
to him. He urges that “ gold, which in old Indian times, was not the 
current circulation of every day transactions, would collect, not at seats 
of Government, but round centres of commerce, such as Allahabad, 
Benares, and Faizabad always have been, and they are also centres of 
pilgrimage, which attract much gold and silver. 
“ It is almost an infallible indication of the neighbourhood of a 
sovereign’s capital when his coins of very minute value are found in large 
numbers. It is only in the markets of large towns or cities that such a 
coinage was of use in India, owing to the social habits of the country, 
but such cities rarely existed except at the head-quarters of Government. 
The minute coins of the Pathan kings abound within twenty miles of 
Delhi, but are very rare elsewhere. Their gold coins are as common 
elsewhere as at Delhi. The copper coins of the Guptas are so rare, how¬ 
ever, that no deduction can be drawn from them.” 
These remarks show the importance of tracing the provenance of the 
Gupta copper coins, which, as already observed, do not appear to be so 
rare as Sir E. 0. Bayley supposes. 
His remark that such “ markets of large towns or cities ” as Allaha¬ 
bad, Benares, and Faizabad were in the Gupta period, “ rarely existed 
except at the head-quarters of Government ” appears to me to lend much 
support to the inference which I have drawn from the recorded find-spots 
of the Gupta coins, especially the large hoards. However, the reader has 
now both views before him, and can judge for himself. 
Section VII. 
Conclusion. 
I must now bring to a close this long but imperfect introductory 
essay, and invite the patient reader to enter upon the dry details of the 
Catalogue. My general description of the Gupta gold coins is specially 
deficient in two respects, namely, in omitting all systematic discussion 
of the fabric and of the palaeography of the coins. 
The details occasionally given in the Catalogue are sufficient to indi¬ 
cate that the standard of purity of metal was not always uniform, but I 
have not had an opportunity for procuring analyses of any of the coins, 
and must content myself with remarking that this subject should not be 
overlooked. 
Circumstances have not permitted me to study the original coins 
sufficiently at leisure in order to work out the palaeography of the legends, 
but I am convinced that the detailed study of this subject would not be 
barren of result. The alphabetical characters on the coins do not vary 
very much, but the variations are sufficient to deserve attention and 
