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!

Imitation Aureus - Ancient India

Issuer Uncertain Indian mint
Year 100-300
Type Log in to see details
Value Log in to see details
Currency Log in to see details
Composition Gold
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 Log in to see details
Reverse script Latin
Reverse lettering Log in to see details
Edge Log in to see details
Mint Log in to see details
Mintage ND (100-300)
Additional information

Gold imitations of Roman aurei circulated widely across the Indian subcontinent during the first three centuries AD, produced by local workshops responding to Roman trade demand rather than any centralized monetary authority. The Roman-Indian trade network — documented in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea — funneled enormous quantities of genuine aurei eastward in exchange for pepper, textiles, and spices, and Indian craftsmen reproduced the coinage closely enough for use in commercial transactions where bullion weight mattered more than imperial legitimacy.

The weight of this piece, at 6.97g, sits within the typical range for locally struck imitations, which often varied slightly from the Roman standard of roughly 7.27g — the difference almost certainly absorbed as profit by the issuing workshop.

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE