Kumaragupta II came to power in 473 AD and was succeeded by his uncle Buddhagupta in 476 AD.
His coins are fairly numerous and confined to the Archer Type. Some of his coins show the letters go, jo, ja between the kings feet and this is used to distinguish between the Classes of this coin type.
Class I - with no letters between kings feet. Var. A -go Var. B - jo, ja. Under Kings left arm Ku, bowstring turned inwards, Hunter (whip) at waist. Arrow in right hand.
Class II - with letters between kings feet.
A circular legend can be seen on the obverse - Maharajadhiraja- sri- kumaraguptah - kramadityah
Reverse legend is Sri Karamadityah (?) See coin below - Class III - Karamajita. Goddess lakshmi seated on lotus holding lotus flower in left hand.
Class I
Obverse: King facing left, no symbol between Kings legs, Legend mostly off the flan, Ku under Kings left arm, holding bow - bowsting facing inwards. Crescent over Ku. Hunter (whip) hanging off kings waist. 9.3gms.
Reverse: Lakshmi seated on Lotus, holding lotus flower in left hand. Legend: Kramaditya
Kumaragupta II Archer type coin
kumaragupta II Archer Coins
9.0 gms
Class II
Letter JI between feet. 9.63gm
KUMARAGUPTA II ARCHER COIN
kumaragupta II coin Reverse
CLASS III
Heavy weight coin of Chandragupta, 9.23gms. Beautiful strike.
Key coin - first coin to be used to deciper the biruda for the later King Kumaragupta - karama jita
CHANDRAGUPTA III ARCHER
This is one of those coin specimen's which are referred to as an 'enigmatic' coin!
From the looks of this coin, it's a beautiful design of Mint A2 characteristic's (Ellen Raven's Mint style Classification) and a good execution of the Archer Type.
(Mint A2 was one of the two Royal Mints, as proposed by Ms. Ellen Raven, both of which were responsible for producing the highest quality designs in the Gupta coins. Coins from Mint B were all on a smaller flan, while coins of mint A2 were struck on larger wider flans.)
However, the weight is 9.23gms - 143grains !!
Initially when this coin came to light, the legend under the Kings arm on the Obverse was read as "Chandra".
Later, Ms. Raven, correctly pointed out that the reading should actually be read as "Ku" - the sash tied around the Kings waist creates a loop and that was being mistakenly read as a 'Cha" leading to "Chandra" .
If you look closely at the bottom of the coin, you will notice that the die shifted, causing the bowstring and the bow to be misaligned... consequently also moving the top part of the "K" from "Ku".
Now it has indeed be clarified that this coin is a coin of a later King also named Kumaragupta (based on the heavier weight).
The reverse Biruda is very clearly shown on this coin. This is quite a treat as the biruda on the coins of these heavier weight Kumaragupta coins were very difficult to read (see coins above)... this biruda is clearly showing a reading of Karama Jita !! This is truly an exciting discovery as for the first time this new title for a later Gupta King has been identified.
It is possible that the letters ' Ji ' found on the Obverse of some Kumaragupta Archer coins were in fact an affirmation of the Kings Biruda.
Images and design copyright Shivlee Collection
A comprehensive collection of rare gold coins from the Gupta Empire of India.
