A Collection of Indian Coins

India, GUPTA EMPIRE, Chandragupta H (c. 318-414 AD), Stater, Archer type, king, nimbate, standing to left, holding bow, reverse Lakshmi seated on a lotus (Mitch. 4865). Very fine, but with graffito on reverse

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, A Collection of Indian Coins.

View
Collection

The graffito (perhaps of a fairly recent date) consists of two or three vertical lines scratched in the centre of the reverse between the legs of the goddess Lakshmi in an attempt to create the appearance of female genitalia. Lakshmi, one of the consorts of Vishnu, and mother of Kama, is the goddess of beauty, pleasure and wealth, and the Ramayana describes her as springing, like Aphrodite, from the foam of the sea