Stephen Album Rare Coins
Auction 43 12-15 May 2022
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KUSHAN: Huvishka, ca. 155-187 AD, AV dinar (7.96g), G-157.1, BMC-XXVIII/24, NC-XX/17 (same reverse die), diademed and crowned half-length bust left, with flames above right shoulder, holding mace and ankusa (elephant goad), clouds below, ŞAOhAHOŞAO O-OhŞKI KOŞANO // three nimbate figures standing facing on double dais within ornate aedicule, the central figure crowned, the others with their heads turned toward him, tamgha in inner left field, MA-AC-H-NO BIZAΓO CKANΔO K-OMAPO, Choice AU, RRR.
This is the first example of this type to be offered for sale in a public auction. Only a few other specimens are known to exist, including two in the British Museum (#1867,1218.11, plate example in BMC (1886), NC (1892), Göbl (1984) as G-157.1; #1865,0803.16, possibly a later imitation due to its rather crude style), and one in the Münzkabinett at the Berlin State Museums (#18206906, plate example in Göbl (1984) as G-157.2, with a very similar obverse to our example).
Judging by their depiction on the coinage of Huvishka (G-156, 157, 298), Mahasena (Maaseno), Skanda-Kumara (Skando-Bizago), Vishakha (Bizago) were separate war deities in the Kushan pantheon before fusing into a single deity by the Gupta period. Today, they are among the many names for Kartikeya, the Hindu god of war.
Estimate: 50,000-55,000 USD
This is the first example of this type to be offered for sale in a public auction. Only a few other specimens are known to exist, including two in the British Museum (#1867,1218.11, plate example in BMC (1886), NC (1892), Göbl (1984) as G-157.1; #1865,0803.16, possibly a later imitation due to its rather crude style), and one in the Münzkabinett at the Berlin State Museums (#18206906, plate example in Göbl (1984) as G-157.2, with a very similar obverse to our example).
Judging by their depiction on the coinage of Huvishka (G-156, 157, 298), Mahasena (Maaseno), Skanda-Kumara (Skando-Bizago), Vishakha (Bizago) were separate war deities in the Kushan pantheon before fusing into a single deity by the Gupta period. Today, they are among the many names for Kartikeya, the Hindu god of war.
Estimate: 50,000-55,000 USD