Finn235 Posted July 29, 2022 · Member Share Posted July 29, 2022 Apologies in advance for jumping straight into the deep end with this one; I do owe y'all a proper high level overview of Indo Sassanian coinage, especially of Track 2 and 3. Track 3 is the shortest track in the Indo Sassanian series, beginning after Tracks 1 and 2, and terminating while the Gadhaiya was still in its infancy. Most coins of Track 3 are scarce to rare, and they terminate with one of the most important historical anchors of the whole of Indo Sassanian coinage - the Adivaraha-dramma of Mihira Bhoja I of the Gurjara-Pratiharas (836-885 AD). Immediately prior to his coinage is the Vigrahapala-dramma, an important unit of account in the Siyadoni Inscription, dated to 908 or 909 AD. Variants are noted, but are almost certainly attributable to the types inscribed Sri ViGra And/or those inscribed Sri Vi Note that the attendants and fire altar were directly copied for the Adivaraha dramma, indicating that it was the source coin. Then I found this one, a Sri Vi, but with an additional letter which I believe is Pra - a variant which to my knowledge has never been observed before! What it all means, sadly is less clear. Vigrapala was a common medieval Indian king name and neither Sri Vi nor Sri Vigra can be attributed to any one of them with certainty - and Sri ViPra just muddies the waters further! 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kamnaskires Posted July 29, 2022 · Member Share Posted July 29, 2022 The waters may be muddy, Steve, but your coins are always great, and your posts are fun to read. Nice work as usual. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayAg47 Posted July 29, 2022 · Member Share Posted July 29, 2022 I got this coin along with another one from ebay, listed as unknown ancient silver, took me some time to identify it, do you happen to now the exact attribution for this coin? Mihara Bhoja I Gurjara Pratiharas, 836-890 AD Boar headed lord Vishnu, aka Varaha. Reverse reads 'Shrimad Adivaraha'. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spaniard Posted July 29, 2022 · Supporter Share Posted July 29, 2022 Interesting coin Steve... Maybe the rising curve doesn't touch the top horizontal of the base A ?...Don't know if this is making the water muddier but I'm seeing maybe a JA ? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Severus Alexander Posted July 29, 2022 · Supporter Share Posted July 29, 2022 Hey @Finn235 and @Kamnaskires… look for my pm soon about the NumisThought editorial board. You knew it was coming! 🙃 Would be great to see some of your Indo-Sassanian work in the journal, Steve! It can be of any length, from short note to monograph… one of the big advantages of online-only publication. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finn235 Posted August 2, 2022 · Member Author Share Posted August 2, 2022 Thanks all! @Spaniard I'm not sure - I might have to ask someone else who is more familiar with this intermediate Nagari than I am. @JayAg47 yours is an intermediate type Adivaraha drachm, most likely struck posthumously. The timing of the type is not very certain, but generally speaking, if you can see legs, it's *probably* lifetime, whereas torso + head or head only is probably a later type. There's a LOT of variations and no one author seems to have a complete picture of the series - myself included. What we do know is that his grandson Vinayakapala (913-933) struck the same type in his own name, and the figures had degraded to this: 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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