Obverse |
Head of king right, blundered Greek legend around, date behind head |
Reverse |
Crescented three-arched hill (chaitya), river below, crescent moon at left, sun at right, Brahmi legend around (at 2:00, clockwise): Rajno Mahakshatrapasa Damasenasaputrasa Rajnah Kshatrapasa Vijayasenasa |
Date |
S. 161 = 239 CE |
Weight |
1.90 gm. |
Diameter |
14 mm. |
Die axis |
9 o'clock |
Reference |
Senior 351.11, Fishman 23.1.161 |
Comments |
The coins naming Vijayasena as Kshatrapa are scarce, given his elevation to Mahakshatrapa in the second year of his reign. This coin has an interesting aspect to it that tells us something about the making of the dies for these coins. Note how the sun on the reverse has only five dots surrounding the central pellet ... one more pellet that should be there between 12 and 3 o'clock is missing. Clearly this was to accomodate the "tails" of the letters in the word Rajno, indicating that the circular legend was cut first onto the die and the central elements were added later. A CHOICE example! |