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Tetradrachm
| Issuer | Kota Kula, Principality of the |
|---|---|
| Year | 50-200 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | 18 mm |
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| Obverse description | Standing figure of the ruler depicted in frontal or near-frontal posture within the central field, flanked on either side by a trishula (trident), a sacred symbol of Shaivite religious affiliation. The die is crudely cut in the prevailing provincial style of the period, with the figure rendered in low relief on an irregular flan. No legend or inscription is present in the field. |
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| Reverse description | Depiction of Lord Shiva standing in the central field accompanied by his sacred mount Nandi the bull, rendered in a schematic and provincial artistic style characteristic of early post-Kushan coinage of the northwestern Indian subcontinent. The figures occupy the main field with minimal surrounding detail, reflecting the crude die-cutting typical of local copper issues of the 1st–2nd century CE. No inscriptions or legends are present. |
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| Additional information |
Kota Kula was a minor Indo-Greek successor principality operating in the northwestern subcontinent during a period when copper tetradrachms were already an anomaly — the denomination had long been associated with silver in the Hellenistic tradition. Striking it in copper signals either severe metal shortages or a localized economy largely disconnected from the broader Indo-Parthian monetary network surrounding it.
Mitchell's attribution in *Ancient Coins* remains the primary reference point; the principality's rulers are poorly documented in any literary source, leaving numismatic evidence as nearly the sole record of its existence.