2017-09-25 Mon

The Gupta coins are mesmerizing and we just can’t get enough of them. In the last article, we saw the Standard Type and King- Queen Type of coins of Samudragupta.

Have you ever seen a coin depicting a king’s hobby?

Well… Here’s a coin which shows a beautiful hobby of a king.

Samudragupta, one of the well-known rulers of Gupta dynasty was a strong military man. He was known for his most charming body which was covered with the beauty of hundred wounds caused by the blows of battles, arrows, spears, pikes, swords, lances, and javelins. But the lesser known fact about him is that he was also a great musician.

Yes, he was very fond of music and is popularly known as ‘Kaviraj’ meaning ‘King of poets’. Unfortunately, none of his compositions have survived.

One of the surviving evidence which is still alive is the Lyrist Type of coin issued by Samudragupta. The Gold Dinar in the given image weighs around 7.35 grams. The obverse of it depicts a king seated bare bodied on a stool, wearing a cap and a dhoti, playing a seven-stringed lute with Brahmi legend ‘Maharajadhiraja…Gupta’ around.

The reverse has a seated goddess facing left on a wicker stool, holding a cornucopia in one hand and a noose or a diadem in the other, royal standard (Rajadanda) to the right and Brahmi legend ‘Samudraguptah’ in the right field, all within the dotted border of the circle.

This coin enjoys the status of being one of the most intricately designed specimens in the era of Numismatics studies.

We will be back soon with such amazing coins of Guptas. Till then keep exploring coins of Gupta on our website.