Kumaragupta revived the Tiger Slayer Type coin. The coins are similar in motif to the Tiger type coins of Samudragupta.
Obverse: King is shown very muscular and wearing mukut (crown), drawing an arrow with left hand and shooting it into the Tigers mouth, trampling the Tiger with his right foot. Ku under kings left arm. Crescent topped standard in between king and tiger.
Legend: Srimam Vyaghraybala parakramah - 'the glorious (king), whose strength and valour is like that of a tiger'
Reverse: Goddess standing on a crocodile, feeding a peacock. Legend:Kumaragupto'dhiraja - Emperor Kumaragupta
This type is divided into two varieties:
Variety A - Ku under kings arm.
Variety B - no letters under kings arm.
In the Bayana hoard, there were 33 coins of Variety A, three of these original coins from the Bayana Hoard are shown below:
kumaragupta I Tiger Slayer
Original Bayana Hoard Coin - presented by the Maharaja of Bharatpur.
Kumaragupta I Tiger Slayer
Original Bayana Hoard Coin - presented by the Maharaja of Bharatpur.
Kumaragupta I Tiger Slayer Coin BH
Original Bayana Hoard Coin - presented by the Maharaja of Bharatpur.
Kumaragupta I Tiger Slayer Coin BH
KUMARAGUPTA TIGER SLAYER REVERSE
Since these three Bayana Hoard coins above have not been removed from the clasps holding them in place, we show here the reverse image from another coin as a reference.
Images and design copyright Shivlee Collection
A comprehensive collection of rare gold coins from the Gupta Empire of India.
