This gold half dinar belongs to the Hindu Shahi dynasty from the north Gandhara region. This coin was issued by Vipilinda, a hitherto unknown ruler.

The weight of this coin is around 4.19 g, the obverse of this coin depicts a king riding on a horse towards left within the dotted border. The reverse of this coin depicts a couchant seated bull in the centre facing left with a legend in Sharada script ‘Shri Shahi’ above it clockwise and ‘Vipilinda’ below it.

This coin is considered unique so far, due to its unlisted status in various publications. The palaeographic of its legend is the sign of transformation of Brahmi into Sharada script around the 8th century.

This so far unique coin is bided by Classical Numismatic Gallery on 19th April 2018, in an auction held within the event of the National Numismatic Exhibition in New Delhi. It is bided from INR 5, 00,000-6, 00,000.

Image Courtesy: Classical Numismatic Gallery