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Tetradrachm - Kujula Kadphises
| Issuer | Kushan Empire |
|---|---|
| Year | 15-50 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Tetradrachm (4) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Zebu bull (humped bull) advancing to right in the field, rendered in a bold, stylized manner characteristic of early Kushan coinage. The animal is depicted in profile with its characteristic hump clearly visible, standing upon a ground line. The flan is irregular and the surfaces show the typical fabric of cast or struck copper issues of this period. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Kharoshthi |
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| Additional information |
Kujula Kadphises founded the Kushan Empire by unifying the five Yuezhi tribes of Bactria, a consolidation that had been underway since roughly the mid-1st century BCE. His coinage is notably imitative — early issues copied Indo-Greek and later Hermaeus types so closely that attribution remained contested among scholars for decades. This piece belongs to his mature independent issues, where the weight standard begins drifting away from its Hellenistic origins toward the heavier norms that would define later Kushan monetary practice.