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Didrachm - Kanishka I
| Issuer | Kushan Empire (India (ancient)) |
|---|---|
| Year | 144-400 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Obverse lettering | þAO KANIþKI |
| Reverse description | The solar deity Mithra (Miiro) stands to the left, depicted radiate and nimbate, extending a diadem in his outstretched right hand in the act of bestowing royal investiture. The Bactrian legend MIOPO appears to the right of the figure, identifying the deity. The royal Kushan tamgha symbol is placed to the left in the field. The deity is rendered in Kushan-Hellenistic artistic style with characteristic solar iconography. |
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| Additional information |
Kanishka I founded one of the ancient world's most religiously eclectic coinages — his issues invoke Zoroastrian, Greek, Hindu, and Buddhist deities sometimes within a single series, reflecting a deliberate imperial theology rather than any personal conversion. The precise dating of his reign remains one of the sharpest disputes in South Asian numismatics; the "Kanishka era" starting point has been argued across a span of nearly three centuries, with 127 AD currently the most widely accepted anchor.
Göbl 771 belongs to the copper didrachm class that circulated at the empire's commercial margins, where gold dinars were too valuable for everyday exchange. The Bactrian-script legends on Kushan copper are frequently blundered by die cutters working from phonetic approximations, making individual die identification a useful tool for sequencing this type.