Three new Gupta drachms

[Finn235]

Newest just in from India; got them for what I feel was an exceptional deal.

Gupta drachms are a bit humbling; without the formulaic Kshatrapa legend, I struggle to attribute them. I believe the first is Chandragupta II, and the others are Kumaragupta?

Any further details are appreciated! Enjoy!

[THCoins]

Nice to see some Gupta silvers again !
I think they are all Kumaragupta.
The first one made med doubt a little because the peacock side looks a bit "molten" like the coin was cast. But this could be just because this side is a little convex. The portrait style is nice.
The last two probably are late specimen. I can imagine that reading the legend is difficult, for it is a bit of a mess and has multiple spelling errors. But there seems to be a wide range of genuine specimen to posthumous specimen with all sorts of spelling errors.
The difference in legend between your first specimen and the last two is that the first shows the title "MaHaRaJa Dhi RaJa" the last two have just "RaJa Dhi RaJa". The "Ja" is not drawn correctly (Should look like "E"). Also the part in front of this "PaRaMa BhaGaVaTa" is excecuted a bit odd.
Look here for another example of a later type Kumaragupta with some explanation of the legend.

[Finn235]

Thanks! I originally thought that the first one had a different legend, but I can see now that some of it is just obscured by the die issue.

Beyond the legend and extreme degeneracy of the later types, I wonder if it's possible to attribute these based on style or features? Of particular note, the first two have a flower or something behind the ear, but that is absent on the third. Probably nothing of importance, but I'd be curious if anyone ever studied these that in-depth.

I agree, though, it's tough to find Gupta silver with a good portrait. I'll have to image and post the others in my collection - I have several of interesting style.

[THCoins]

The classic publications on Gupta coinage are by Allen and Altekar, but mostly focussed on gold coinage.
There are quite alot of silver drachm styles indeed. i also have quite some. Thii may reflect different mints, but nobody knows for sure. Likely these coins circulated widely and detailed hoard information is very scarce.