Fifth Known

CNG 93, Lot: 699. Estimate $10000. Sold for $6000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

INDIA, Kushan Empire. Vima Kadphises. Circa AD 100-127/8. AV Dinar (19mm, 7.91 g, 12h). Mint I (A). 1st emission. BACIΛEYC OOH MO KAΔΦICHC, diademed and crowned half-length bust left on clouds, holding mace-scepter and hand on hilt; flames at shoulders, tamgha to right / “Maharajasa rajadirajasa trarvaloga isvarasa mahisvarasa Vima Kathphshasa tratara(sa)” in Karosthi, ithyphallic Siva standing facing, head left, holding trident in right hand and resting left arm on bull Nandi behind, who is standing right with head facing; Buddhist triratana (“Three Jewels”) to left. Bopearachchi, Premiers, Série V, 7-8 (same dies); cf. MK 1/1 (same rev. die [R1]); Donum Burns –; Triton XII, lot 418 (same dies); Triton XI, 368 (same dies). Good VF, toned, minor deposits. Extremely rare, the fifth known of this particular type.

The gold issues of Vima Kadphises are the first struck by the Kushans in that metal and reflect their new, wide-ranging economic power. By the early second century AD, Kushan control of the Silk Road, and the immense wealth its control provided, enabled the Kushans to strike quantities of impressive coin types which emphasized their new-found importance. The coronation of Vima Kadphises, the first truly independent Kushan ruler, allowed for the opportunity to issue a large number of gold dinars, as well as multiples and fractions. While the weight standard was based on the Roman aureus, the imagery on these issues represents a synthesis of Hellenistic and Central Asian cultures. Adopting Greco-Roman models, the king’s portrait displays a confident realism, and, although his costume may reflect the style of the Parthian court, it nevertheless possesses an underlying forcefulness which is distinctly Kushan, revealing an earlier nomadic ethnic identity. His power as independent ruler was emphasized by the inclusion of weapons as adjuncts: the mace-scepter, the sword, and the spear, symbols of his new ability to coerce and pacify. The presence of the club of Herakles, an already-familiar hero throughout Central Asia, not only gave the king a Greco-Roman, and, consequently, more cosmopolitan association, but also implied that he was a Herakles redivivus, a mortal able to achieve mythical tasks. Such divine association is carried further with Vima’s depiction above the clouds. While it might be interpreted as his wish to be viewed a god, being associated with gods, or his elevation over other men, the inclusion of such imagery may, in fact, indicate a special status unattainable by others. The presence of the flame at Vima’s shoulders, a manifestation of kavaem khvareno (the Iranian concept of royal good fortune), reflects the status and power bestowed on a worthy ruler by the gods as a talisman of his lawful reign and surety of his success. The depiction of Vima’s left hand being covered, a Parthian convention, symbolizing subjection to a higher power, namely Siva, who is depicted on his coinage, further suggests that the Kushan king saw himself as that god’s functionary to rule over his newly-won resources and territory.