Debased drachm of Skandagupta (AD455-480)

[Figleaf]

This one speaks to me. I really hope it is identifiable.

Copper, 1.8 grammes, 11.0 - 12.1 mm.

Peter

[Figleaf]

I am severely handicapped when it comes to reading these texts. I wonder if this could be a quarter paisa of Mysore, like the coin below.

Peter

[PeaceBD]

I am severely handicapped when it comes to reading these texts. I wonder if this could be a quarter paisa of Mysore, like the coin below.

Peter

Peter, I don't think this is a Mysore paisa. I have tried to look at it from every possible angle but really can't make out anything. I really doubt if its of Indian origin.

Bhushan

[Figleaf]

I am not yet ready to give up, Bushan. The elephant and the type of coin look Indian to me. Here is one from my collection with an elephant and a line above. Mysore paisa 1225 (1796), KM 123.7. The elephant fits, the text doesn't.

Peter

[THCoins]

I looked at this item several times wondering is someone already made an identification attempt. I don't recognize the coin so won't give it a shot. What had me puzzeled from the start was how you came so convinced of the elephant figure. I am not so familiar with indian elephant coins, but it is a bit of a weird elephant in my eyes. What i can make out is an elephant facing right viewed from the side and a bit from the front. The lines above its back seem part of the structure, could it be a load. But the burden seems disproportionally big. Another thing that bothers me is the three 'beads' at its backend. They are out of place there.
As i often do i rotated the picture on the computer. When i rotated it 90 degrees counter clockwise it thought "in this position it could just as well be a face looking right". The three beads would then fall into place as being around his neck. It however still also is a strange face, especially the lines over where the ears would be dont seem fitting. In addition i never saw a face portrayed in this style in Indian coinange.
Funny thing is that today i happened to stumble across just this manner of portrayal on an Indian coin. This was on a silver Kalachuri coin portraying Krishna Raja facing right. Dots like the ones you probably identified as the bottom of the elephants legs form the front of the lower part of his face.
I don't think your coin is of Krishna Raja. Just thought i might challenge the elephant interpretation a bit as no one else has come up with an answer in this direction.
This is not the actual coin i first saw, but this is copyright free from wikipedia:

[Figleaf]

Thank you TH. Appreciate the effort.

How I know it's an elephant? I don't. You have to start somewhere and the "empty" centre was an inviting start. A design, not a text. What's below looks like four legs, so an animal comes to mind. The legs are relatively short, to the right could be an over-long trunk ending in a hook, as on the Mysore coins. Bang. Elephant. Where you see a load, I see an Arabic character, again, as on the Mysore coins. The three open dots I see as a continuation of the scallops below the elephant. Now if it turns out to be a bull or a horse, that's fine with me also.

So I turned it 90° and sure enough, I see what you mean. Could be a face. Thanks for pointing that out. That would indeed make it ancient Indian. I like that. I hope someone comes up with a candidate.

However, the key may also be on the other side. When I bought the coin, I thought I saw writing, but didn't look beyond that. Since Oesho can't make out a text and PeaceBD can't make out anything and since these are smart people, couldn't it be an image, rather than text? Today, I see at least two figures dancing around a camp fire, arms raised, knees bent.

Anyway, I think we can rule out that this is a euro coin

Peter

[THCoins]

The stick people on the obverse side had also crossed my mind. But i did not want to take my imaginatory essay to far.
And for the fire association; I did find one combination for the funny elephant face and a fire altar on the obverse in bronze.. ?
http://www.shivlee.com/skandagupta/skandasilvercoins.html (bottom of the page)

And an euro coin, hmm.. Belgium perhaps ? 

[Figleaf]

That's a jaw-dropping site, TH! Added to the link collection.

Peter

[THCoins]

Just another attempt to view things differently..

[akona20]

h e p h t h a l i t e s I suggest you look here.

[saro]

I join peter... : I see an elephant with something over which looks like an arabic legend, but not at all a coin from Mysore.
(Seljuqs of Syria have struck fals with elephant, but not with such reverse.)
The mysterious design of the reverse could be a (very) degenerated horseman as we find on many early jitals of North India.
I join one of Iltutmish which may give an idea.
Ghaznevids, Sind, Punjab are ways to look for ??...

[Oesho]

I have so often looked at the pictures, but no clue. Now with the suggestion of a fire altar on the reverse made me saw the 'light'. Rotate the obverse and you clearly see an image of a face looking right.
I presume the coin is a debased drachm of Skandagupta (AD455-480). Mitchiner in a note on page 608 (The Ancient and Classical World) writes: The altar type drachms are the rudest issues of Skandagupta and these are its poorest representatives, presumably struck at about the time when he lost control of the western provinces.
Ref.: Mitchiner, The Ancient and Classical World (London, 1978) #4874-4878.

[akona20]

Absolutely.

[Figleaf]

I somehow managed to miss the last comments and was still looking at Hephtalite coins. Sorry.

The above is a first class example of team work, with several people contributing to the resolution of the question. The internet at its best, this site at its strongest. I am grateful for the considerable time and effort people have put into the question. Your contributions have made this coin into a "coin with a story". A every coin collector knows, those are the most valuable in your collection, irrespective of their price.

Peter