Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XVIII 29 Sep 2019
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Kushan Empire, Vima Kadphises AV Double Dinar. Uncertain Baktrian mint, circa AD 113-127. Bilingual series. Diademed and crowned half-length bust left on clouds, holding mace-sceptre and sword hilt; tamgha to right / Ithyphallic Siva standing facing, head right, holding diadem and resting on the bull Nandi behind, who stands right, head facing; tamgha to upper left. MK 13 (unlisted dies); ANS Kushan 263; Donum Burns -. 15.87g, 25mm, 12h.
Extremely Fine; struck in high relief. Very Rare; only five examples cited by Göbl.
From the Professor Shir Mohammad Collection.
The Kushans are described in Chinese sources as the Guishuang, one of five tribes collectively known as the Da Yuezhi, who were driven from their territory in the northwest of modern-day China in the second half of the second century BC by the Xiongnu and moved to the Oxus region. In the following century, the Da Yuezhi expelled the Baktrian dynasties ruling there and divided the region between the chiefs of its constituent tribes. Under their king Kujula Kadphises (ruled c. AD 50-90), the Kushans were able to gain ascendency over the other Yuezhi tribes and take full possession of their kingdoms. During his reign, Kujula also conquered an extensive area that included the Kabul region, Taxila, Kashmir, as well as areas south into Sind. His son and successor Vima Takto (c. 90-113) extended the Kushan empire further into India.
Both the designs and denominations of the coins issued by the early Kushan kings were largely adaptations of those already in circulation in the territories they conquered. South of the Hindu Kush, coins were derived from the Indo-Greek monetary system prevalent there, albeit changed by Indo-Skythian and Indo-Parthian debasement. Here bronze coins were issued with bilingual inscriptions in Greek and Prakrit and struck on the theoretical weight standard of the Indian silver tetradrachm, approximately nine grams. A wide variety of imitative types were issued based on those of the Indo-Greeks, Indo-Skythians and Roman types. North of the Hindu Kush, silver and bronze coins were issued on the reduced Attic standard used by the Baktrians, with a drachm of approximately four grams. The Kushans (also attributable to the period of the Da Yuezhi) issued imitative tetradrachms and obols in the types of Greco-Baktrian King Eukratides I Megas, as well as tetradrachms and drachms in the types of Heliokles Dikaios.
A radical monetary development occurs during the reign of Vima Kadphises, with the introduction of gold coinage in four denominations based on the Attic standard of eight grams. They were the first gold coins to be issued in Central Asia and India since those infrequently issued by the Greco-Baktrian and Indo-Greek Kings. It was especially remarkable since there was no local supply of gold within the whole Kushan domain, except that obtainable by trade (J.Thorley, The Roman Empire and The Kushans in Greece & Rome Vol. 26, p. 184, Cambridge, 1979). Kushan control over the Silk Road provided lucrative trading opportunities with Roman merchants, who were keen to buy products which reached the Indus delta from Afghanistan and Central Asia and thus, a potential source of precious metal. Since the reign of Vespasian however, the quantity of coinage evidently exported from the Empire had reduced drastically (see R.E.M. Wheeler, Rome Beyond the Imperial Frontiers (Harmondsworth, 1955).
Following Trajan's successful conclusion of the Second Dacian War in AD 106, Cassius Dio records that embassies 'from the Indians' visited the emperor (68.15). As the most powerful rulers in the region, it is likely that the Kushans were amongst those seeking closer trade relations with Rome. John Thorley has suggested that one of their requests was for gold, something that the Roman government was willing to supply in return for silk and luxury goods, having captured a large amount of gold as a result of Trajan's Dacian campaigns. Whilst the level of Kushan diplomacy with Rome remains conjectural, second-century coin hoards in Kushan controlled territories suggest a reversal of Vespasian's policy by Trajan which lasted beyond his reign. Whilst the source metal for the Kushan gold coinage introduced by Vima Kadphises may have been second-century Roman aurei, a metal analysis comparison is lacking.
The requirement of a large gold denomination for trading purposes such as this very rare double dinar is questionable. That no double dinars are known to have been struck by subsequent Kushan kings suggests that trade did not necessitate such a large gold denomination and their rarity indicates a ceremonial or commemorative purpose.
Extremely Fine; struck in high relief. Very Rare; only five examples cited by Göbl.
From the Professor Shir Mohammad Collection.
The Kushans are described in Chinese sources as the Guishuang, one of five tribes collectively known as the Da Yuezhi, who were driven from their territory in the northwest of modern-day China in the second half of the second century BC by the Xiongnu and moved to the Oxus region. In the following century, the Da Yuezhi expelled the Baktrian dynasties ruling there and divided the region between the chiefs of its constituent tribes. Under their king Kujula Kadphises (ruled c. AD 50-90), the Kushans were able to gain ascendency over the other Yuezhi tribes and take full possession of their kingdoms. During his reign, Kujula also conquered an extensive area that included the Kabul region, Taxila, Kashmir, as well as areas south into Sind. His son and successor Vima Takto (c. 90-113) extended the Kushan empire further into India.
Both the designs and denominations of the coins issued by the early Kushan kings were largely adaptations of those already in circulation in the territories they conquered. South of the Hindu Kush, coins were derived from the Indo-Greek monetary system prevalent there, albeit changed by Indo-Skythian and Indo-Parthian debasement. Here bronze coins were issued with bilingual inscriptions in Greek and Prakrit and struck on the theoretical weight standard of the Indian silver tetradrachm, approximately nine grams. A wide variety of imitative types were issued based on those of the Indo-Greeks, Indo-Skythians and Roman types. North of the Hindu Kush, silver and bronze coins were issued on the reduced Attic standard used by the Baktrians, with a drachm of approximately four grams. The Kushans (also attributable to the period of the Da Yuezhi) issued imitative tetradrachms and obols in the types of Greco-Baktrian King Eukratides I Megas, as well as tetradrachms and drachms in the types of Heliokles Dikaios.
A radical monetary development occurs during the reign of Vima Kadphises, with the introduction of gold coinage in four denominations based on the Attic standard of eight grams. They were the first gold coins to be issued in Central Asia and India since those infrequently issued by the Greco-Baktrian and Indo-Greek Kings. It was especially remarkable since there was no local supply of gold within the whole Kushan domain, except that obtainable by trade (J.Thorley, The Roman Empire and The Kushans in Greece & Rome Vol. 26, p. 184, Cambridge, 1979). Kushan control over the Silk Road provided lucrative trading opportunities with Roman merchants, who were keen to buy products which reached the Indus delta from Afghanistan and Central Asia and thus, a potential source of precious metal. Since the reign of Vespasian however, the quantity of coinage evidently exported from the Empire had reduced drastically (see R.E.M. Wheeler, Rome Beyond the Imperial Frontiers (Harmondsworth, 1955).
Following Trajan's successful conclusion of the Second Dacian War in AD 106, Cassius Dio records that embassies 'from the Indians' visited the emperor (68.15). As the most powerful rulers in the region, it is likely that the Kushans were amongst those seeking closer trade relations with Rome. John Thorley has suggested that one of their requests was for gold, something that the Roman government was willing to supply in return for silk and luxury goods, having captured a large amount of gold as a result of Trajan's Dacian campaigns. Whilst the level of Kushan diplomacy with Rome remains conjectural, second-century coin hoards in Kushan controlled territories suggest a reversal of Vespasian's policy by Trajan which lasted beyond his reign. Whilst the source metal for the Kushan gold coinage introduced by Vima Kadphises may have been second-century Roman aurei, a metal analysis comparison is lacking.
The requirement of a large gold denomination for trading purposes such as this very rare double dinar is questionable. That no double dinars are known to have been struck by subsequent Kushan kings suggests that trade did not necessitate such a large gold denomination and their rarity indicates a ceremonial or commemorative purpose.