Sale: CNG 81, Lot: 715. Estimate $2000.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 20 May 2009.  Sold For $1400. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

INDIA, Kushan Empire. Huvishka. Circa AD 152-192. AV Dinar (7.83 g, 11h). Mint II (B). 1st emission. PAONOPO IhP KOPAЧO, half-length bust left on clouds, holding mace-scepter, hand on hilt / hωhYO (h's retrograde, YO ligate), Nana standing facing, head left, holding object and billowing veil. MK 302 (O44β/R- [unlisted rev. die]); Donum Burns 274; Triton X, 485 (same dies). Near VF, edge marks from possible prior mounting. Very rare, the fifth known, and the second offered at auction.

Nana, one of the most important of all the deities on Kushan coins along with Ardoxsho, was the embodiment of abundance and prosperity. Like the Greek goddess Tyche, or the Roman Fortuna, she is depicted with a cornucopia, the symbol of plenty. Her depiction on Kushan dinars was a logical one, emphasizing the abundance produced by Kushan trade and diplomacy, as well as the ruler’s beneficence.