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According to Gupta and Hardaker, the Series VIb coins are issues of the Mauryan empire at its peak. They date these coins to c. 270-175 BCE, the time of Ashoka and his successors. Ashoka, of course, was the emperor who spread the word of the Buddha throughout his empire. The Series VIb coins have a small official punch on the reverse, which repeats one of the punches on the obverse. This type always seems to have the symbol with three ellipses.
It is possible that the standing figure on this coin represents Lord Shiva, and would be one of the earliest representations of the Hindu deity.
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