Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
Drachm - Later Gupta or Imitative
| Issuer | Gupta Empire |
|---|---|
| Year | 400-600 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Standing or seated figure visible in a highly debased and schematic form, consistent with late Gupta reverse types derived from earlier regal prototypes. Surrounding the central device are blundered and illegible remnants of a Brahmi legend, heavily degenerated to the point of being non-readable, a hallmark of imitative or sub-Gupta coinage struck by local rulers or imitators. The strike is weak and uneven, with significant areas of flat or missing detail across the flan. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Plain |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
The later Gupta silver-copper issues represent a prolonged monetary debasement that tracked the empire's territorial fragmentation after Skandagupta's reign in the late 5th century. As Huna invasions destabilized the northwest and provincial governors asserted autonomy, central mint control dissolved — many of these small billon pieces were struck by successor kingdoms or local authorities imitating Gupta types they no longer had the political authority to issue legitimately. Attribution between "later Gupta" and "imitative" remains genuinely unresolved for most specimens.