Rare Victory Type

Sale: Triton XI, Lot: 377. Estimate $6000.  Closing Date: Monday, 7 January 2008.  Sold For $5250. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

INDIA, Kushan Empire. Huvishka. Circa AD 152-192. AV Dinar (7.93 g, 12h). Mint A. 3rd emission. [ÞAONANOÞAO OO]HÞKЄ KOÞANO, nimbate, diademed, and crowned half-length bust left on clouds, holding mace-scepter in right hand, filleted spear in left, flames on shoulders / OA-NINDO, Nike, nimbate, advancing right, holding wreath in left hand, cradling palm frond in right arm; tamgha to left. MK 246/1 (O1/R1); Donum Burns -; CNG 70, 500 (same dies); CNG 66, 967 (same dies). Superb EF. Among the rarest of Huvishka's gold dinars.

The rare Victory type stands out among the dinars of Huvishka, precisely because it contradicts all that we know about that king’s pacific reign. Huvishka's father, Kanishka, was the great conqueror, adding most of northern India to his realm. The only campaign associated with Huvishka was the occupation of Kashmir, which may have taken place in the last years of his father's rule. Huvishka was a devout Buddhist, and most of the records of his time are concerned with his donations to monasteries, temples and foundations for helping the poor. He was not by any measure a warrior king. In the absence of a specific event that might have prompted the striking of the Victory type, we can only suggest that the Kushans may have adopted the type from Roman aurei that made their way eastward in the trade network that provided much of the wealth of the Kushan kingdom. Compare, for example, the aureus of Marcus Aurelius, RIC 193, struck 168 AD.