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| Gold Dinar Coin of Samudragupta |
Gupta Empire, Samudragupta (345-375 AD), Gold Dinar, 'Ashwamedha' type, Obv: sacrificial horse standing left, low platform before a Yupa (sacrificial post), slightly bent in the centre, yupa has an ornamental pedestral in two steps, adorned with banners and ribbons, in its front, brahmi legend 'RajadhirajaPrthivimavi....vajayatyahri' (King of Kings, who conquered the earth, Restorer of Ashwamedh), around, brahmi letter 'Si' (Siddam) on top of a pedestal placed on the platform under the horse belly, Rev: chief queen in the guise of a goddess, standing left pedestal carrying a fly-whisk in her flexed hand, placed on her shoulder and holding towel in left hand, brahmi legend 'AshwamedhaParakramah' in the right field and ritual needle or Soochi in the left, 8.0g, 21.83mm, Unlisted type in Altekar and BMC (the variant of BMC Pl. V-10 &Altekar Pl. III-7) , well centre struck, choice extremely fine, Extremely Rare.
Very interesting specimen than of all the other types from the series, the throat, neck, shoulder and chest of the horse is broader than of normal specimens. Coin has the stylised version of the horse where the front of the body is much broader and the back of the horse is seen more inclined.
The yupa is also stylized from the bottom with ribbons on the middle part of it, the extended part from the top of yupa is in the standard form without the dotted motifs or floral designs. The placement of the letter 'Si' over a pedestal is a rare variation for the type.
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