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INDIA, Kushan Empire. Vima Kadphises. Circa AD 113-127. AV Dinar (18mm, 7.73 g, 12h). Monolingual Greek issue. Main mint in Baktria. BACIΛЄYC OOH MO KAΔΦICHC, diademed and crowned half-length bust of Vima Kadphises right on clouds, flames at shoulder, holding mace-scepter in right hand; 9 to left / BACIΛЄωC OOKNOTΔK(inverted Δ)OOY KOOÞ ÞΔOY YIOC (sic), ithyphallic triple-headed Siva standing facing, holding composite trident and goat skin. Bopearachchi, Premiers Série III = Bopearachchi, Some 6 (this coin); MK –, but cf. 2 (for obv. – same die); ANS Kushan –; Donum Burns –; CNG 117, lot 363 (hammer $26,000). Deposits in devices, light scratches and marks, small edge knocks. Fine. Second known.
From the Archytas Collection.
INTRO NOTE Formed over the past thirty years, the Archytas Collection represents one of the finest holdings of Kushan coins in private hands. Replete with coins of exceptional quality, extreme rarity, and considerable historical and iconographic interest, this dedicated collector has created an extraordinary numismatic record of the Kushan Empire which flourished in Central Asia from the first to the fourth centuries AD.
The name Kushan derives from the Chinese term Guishuang, used to describe one branch of the Yuezhi, a loose confederation of Indo-European people who had been living in the Xinjiang Province of modern China. Driven west by the Xiongnu nomads between 176 and 160 BC, the five groups of the Yuezhi – the Xiumi, Guishuang, or Kushans, Shuangmi, Xidun, and Dumi – reached the Hellenistic kingdom of Baktria by 135 BC. They expelled the ruling Greek dynasties there, forcing these kings farther south to settle along the Indus River. In the following century, the Guishuang bound the other tribes of the Yuezhi into a powerful state. As the Guishuang, or Kushans, were the predominant power, their name became that by which the entire confederation was known. At its height the Kushan Empire encompassed most of modern-day Afghanistan and Pakistan, as well as large parts of northern India, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan. Diplomatic ties were maintained with the empires of Rome to the west and China to the east.
The earliest Kushan coins were struck to the same standards of the issues of Indo-Greek kingdoms that the Kushans conquered. They comprised mainly tetradrachms and drachms in silver and bronze with legends in Greek. Under Vima Kadphises a major reform resulted in the introduction of a spectacular gold coinage of dinars weighing approximately eight grams along with multiples and fractions. The types extolled the might of the Kushan kings and their religious affinities. The earliest gold dinars bore legends solely in Greek, subsequent issues had legends in both Greek and Kharoshti. As the empire grew to its greatest extend under king Kanishka the Kushan language, written in adaptation of the Greek alphabet with some local alterations, was increasingly used.
Like their Roman contemporaries, the Kushans incorporated much of the culture and religion of the many varied peoples they ruled into their own. With an empire straddling the cross roads of the ancient world, the Kushan pantheon came to represent an unparalleled syncretism of western and eastern elements. The Kushan gold coinage displays this remarkable diversity to the fullest extent as evinced by the Archytas Collection. Greek gods and heroes appear alongside fertility gods of ancient Iran. Siva, greatly revered by king Vima Kadphises, and other Shaivite gods of the Indian Subcontinent compete with deities and avatars of Zoroastrianism. The Buddha, championed by king Kanishka I, takes his place as do deities linked to Sumerian, Akkadian, and ancient Egyptian beliefs. As time passed, and the fortunes of the empire waned, the coinage witnesses a shrinking of this broad pantheon till only Siva, accompanied by his faithful Nandi bull, and Ardoksho, the great goddess of fertility and wealth, remain.
After the death of Vasudeva I in AD 225 the Sasanian Empire under Ardashir I conquered Kushan lands in Baktria and northern India. The southern portion of this territory remained under direct Sasanian control, while in the north arose the Kushanshahs, or Kushano-Sasanians, Sasanian nobles who ruled the region as vassals, striking broad flan dinars blending Kushan and Sassanian elements. By AD 270, Kushan control of the Ganges plain was ceded to the rising Gupta kingdom and by AD 320 the Guptas were pressing on the last remaining Kushan-held territories. During this period, several rebel leaders and generals appeared, further weakening the Kushan state. By the middle of the fourth century AD, the former Kushan vassal, Kidara, absorbed the now-moribund Kushan Empire into his dominions. Kushan style dinars continued to by struck by the Kidarites and subsequent dynasties for hundreds of years.
NOTE TO GO BELOW LOT
This exceedingly rare and important coin is perhaps the earliest issue of Vima Kadphises’s gold coinage. The obverse shows a half-length bust of the great king diademed and crowned holding a club-like mace. To emphasize his godlike power he is seated in clouds, flames rising from his shoulders. Although not named, the deity on the reverse is clearly a potent manifestation of Siva. The legends on both obverse and reverse are, unlike later issues, in Greek. The reverse legend proclaims Vima Kadphises lineage as the YIOC or son of Vima Taktu - ‘son of Great King Taktu Kushanshah’ – thus confirming the Kushan royal genealogy contained in the famous Rabatak inscription.
The final winners of all CNG Feature Auction 118 lots will be determined at the live public sale that will be held on 13-14 September 2021. CNG Feature Auction 118 – Session Two – Greek Coinage Part 2 through Roman Provincial Coinage Part 1 will be held Monday afternoon, 13 September 2021 beginning at 2:00 PM ET.
Winning bids are subject to a 20% buyer's fee for bids placed on this website and 22.50% for all others.
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