Obverse: King always facing left, holding Sceptre & with Garuda bird on dvajha (stand) in left field.
Reverse: Goddess Lakshmi sitting on throne.
CLASS I - biruda on reverse is Parakramah (all powerful)
Var A - Legend begins at 1 O'clock, and Samudra under left arm Var B- same as Var A, but with Crescent over Garudadhavaja Var C- same as Var A, struck on small flan (approx 0.72"dia) Var D- same as Var A, but king has a dagger Var E- same as Var A, but legend begins on left side of coin Var F- legend on right in straight line Var G- kings name is in full
CLASS II - Legend on reverse is Sri Vikramah (all victorious)
CLASS III - Kushan type - Also referred to as the "Punjab Type"
Samudragupta Brahmi text
SAMUDRAGUPTA STANDARD TYPE COIN
Class I Var A
Obverse: Samara-sata-vitata- viajyo jita-ripurajito-divam jayati 'The invincible (king) who had won victories on a hundred battlefields and conquered the enemies, wins the heaven'. 7.6gm
Reverse:Parakramah
SAMUDRAGUPTA GOLD COIN - STANDRD TYPE FULL TUNIC
Class I Var A
Obverse: Samara-sata-vitata- viajyo jita-ripurajito-divam jayati 'The invincible (king) who had won victories on a hundred battlefields and conquered the enemies, wins the heaven'
King is shown as a young man, wearing a full tunic, with pearls.
Reverse:Parakramah
SAMUDRAGUPTA STANDARD TYPE
Class I, Var B with Crescent
Crescent above the Garuda standard.
SAMUDRAGUPTA STANDARD TYPE VARIETY B COIN
7.43 grams.
Legend around king standing and holding a long standard while sprinkling incense over an altar, Samudra in field right, Garuda standard with crescent above in field left.
Reverse: Parakramah in field right. Lakshmi seated on high backed throne holding cornucopiae and riband.
Crescent shown on obverse. King shown holding standard in left hand and sprinkling incense into fire altar with left hand. Goddess seated on a early style couch with high back. Control mark behind couch on upper right corner is reminescent of Kushan coinage. 7.47gm.
Samudragupta Standard Type with crescent
Crescent over the Kings head. King shown wearing long tailed coat with beaded trousers, pearl necklace and earrings.
Class I, Var D with Dagger
SAMUDRAGUPTA STANDARD TYPE WITH DAGGER COIN
Dagger on right at Kings waist. 7.45gm
SAMUDRAGUPTA STANDARD W DAGGER COIN
Class I, Var E Legend starts on left
SAMUDRAGUPTA STANDARD W DAGGER COIN
Very Rare Variety: Dagger at waist AND Legend starts on the left at VII O'clock. 7.37 gm. Legend starting at VII - samarasatavitatavijayo........ puraji... King standing left, holding a long standard and sprinkling incense over an altar, Samudra under Kings left hand, Garuda topped standard.
Rev. Legend off flan, goddess Lakshmi seated facing on throne, holding cornucopiae and diedem.
BMC pl.I, 10. Bayana Hoard pl.II, 7. Altekar, Corpus pl.II, 5. Small flan.
SAMUDRAGUPTA STANDARD VAR E COIN
Variety E. Legend starts on the left at VII O'clock.
Beautiful design in that the Gauda Bird is shown with eyes.
CLASS I, Var F
Legend starts on 2 O'clock and is always written in a straight vertical line.
Extremely rare variety - only 1 other coin known to exist: British Museum BMC G.D., Plate I.11
SAMUDRAGUPTA STANDARD CL I, Var F
Very rare variety
Legend on Obverse in a straight line: Samarasatavita ... Samudra under left arm, 7.67 gms.
BMC plI, 11. Bayana Hoard p. II, 11. Altekar Corpus pl. II, 5.
CLASS I, Var. G
Samudra - Gupta under Kings left arm on obverse.
SAMUDRAGUPTA STANDARD TYPE VARIETY G COIN
Class I, Variety G
Nimbate King standing to left, pointing to altar with right hand and holding scepter in left. Garuda standard to left, Samudra-Gupta flanking scepter. 7.59gm.
Legend begins at 7 O'Clock: Samarasatavitatavijayo jitaripurajito divam jayati -The Invincible (king) who had won victories on a hundred battlefields and conquered the enemies, wins the heaven.
Reverse: Nimbate goddess seated facing on throne, holding noose in right hand and cornucopia in left, symbol - upper left.
Legend : Parakramah (all powerful)
Ex G.M. Browne Collection
SAMUDRAGUPTA STANDARD TYPE COIN
Class I, Variety G
Goddess on reverse is shown without a halo. Mostly all coins in this Type show the goddess with a halo.
SAMUDRAGUPTA STANDARD TYPE COIN
Samudragupta, nimbate, standing left, holding standard and sprinkling incense over altar; Garuda standard behind altar Brahmi legend around.
Rev goddess Sri- Lakshmi, nimbate, seated on throne with two legs, holding diadem and cornucopiae; tamgha to left, legend Parakramah in the right field. Weight 7.7gm
(BMC II, 2; Coinage of the Gupta Empire, Altekar: Plate II no.7).
CLASS III - "Kushan" type
Var A - With Sword
Also referred to as the Punjab type, this coin could be considered as a transition coin from the Kushan style coins to a more Indianised style.
In Crude Brahmi script - Under Kings arm ... "Samudra".
King wearing turban and dhoti, holding rajdanda (royal standard) in left hand, sprinkling incense over ceramonial fire with right hand, sword hanging at waist. Lakshmi seated on bench on Reverse.
SAMUDRAGUPTA STANDARD TYPE COIN
CLASS III, Var. B - With a club at Kings Left
(7.74 g, 12h).
Samudra standing facing, head left, sacrificing over altar with right hand and holding standard with left hand. Filleted trident to left, Brahmi "Pu" to left of King.
"Samudra" to inner right, "Gadakhara" to outer right. A long Club or Staff at King's left side.
Goddess Lakshmi or Ardoxsho seated facing, holding filleted investiture garland and cornucopia.
This "usurper" is unknown apart from his coins. Based on stylistic incongruities with traditional Kushan numismatic iconography (cf. MK 599), the use of ad hoc mints, rather than the usual sites employed by others, and the use of "Samudra", Göbl argued for a field commander striking on behalf of Samudragupta in a region which had not yet been incorporated into the Gupta realm, but where Kushan dinars would have been the accepted currency.
KUSHAN SAMUDRAGUPTA PUNJAB SYLE COIN
Images and design copyright Shivlee Collection
A comprehensive collection of rare gold coins from the Gupta Empire of India.
