INDIA, Kushan Empire. Vima Kadphises. Circa AD 100-127/8. Set of Four AV 2 Dinars. Mint I (A). 3rd emission. All coins: BACI??YC OH MO KA?FICHC, diademed and crowned figure or half-length bust of Vima Kadphises in various poses, holding mace-scepter or laurel branch in right hand; flames at shoulder, tamgha to right or left / Maharajasa rajadirajasa sarvaloga isvarasa mahisvarasa hima kaphthisasa tradara(sa) in Karosthi script, ithyphallic Siva standing facing, head left, holding trident in right hand and resting left arm on bull Nandi behind, who is standing right with head facing; Buddhist triratana (“Three Jewels”) to left. Lot includes the following: (a) (24mm, 15.96 g, 12h). Bopearachchi, Premiers Série VIII, 12-17; MK 10 (dies 1/– [unlisted rev. die]); Donum Burns 75; Sunrise 522 (this coin) // (b) (25mm, 15.94 g, 12h). Bopearachchi, Premiers Série IX, 22 (this coin); MK 11 (dies 1/– [unlisted rev. die]); Donum Burns 76; Sunrise 523 (this coin) // (c) (23mm, 15.89 g, 12h). Bopearachchi, Premiers Série X, 24 (this coin); MK 12 (dies 4/12A); Donum Burns 78; Sunrise 524 (this coin) // (d) (24mm, 15.91 g, 12h). Bopearachchi, Premiers Série XI, 29; MK 13 (dies 3/– [unlisted rev. die]); Donum Burns –; Sunrise 525 (this coin). All coins Superb EF, a couple light scratches in field on reverse of coin (a). From the Sunrise Collection, purchased from Classical Numismatic Group, 2007.The name Kushan derives from the Chinese term Guishuang, used to describe one branch of the Yuezhi, a loose confederation of Indo-European people who had been living in the Xinjiang Province of modern China. Driven west by Xiongnu between 176 and 160 BC, the five groups of the Yuezhi – the Xiumi, Guishuang (Kushans), Shuangmi, Xidun, and Dumi – reached the Hellenic kingdom of Baktria by 135 BC. They expelled the ruling Greek dynasties there, forcing these kings further south to settle along the Indus River. In the following century, the Guishuang forced the other tribes of the Yuezhi into a tight confederation. Now, as the Guishuang was the predominant power, the entire group became known by that name. This appellation was Westernized as Kushan, though the Chinese still referred to them as Yuezhi.Like the Hellenistic Greeks and Romans, the Kushans were a multi-cultural society, incorporating much of the cultures they ruled into their own. Like their Baktrian predeccesors, early Kushan coins used Greek legends on the obverse, along with a translation in the local Karosthi script on the reverse. Beginning with Kanishka I, however, the Kushan language, written in an adaptation of the Greek alphabet with some local alterations, was used almost exclusively. From the time of Vima Taktu (Soter Megas), the Kushans also began to adopt Indian cultural elements. Embracing a wide variety of local Indian and Central Asian deities, they assimilated them with Greco-Roman types already prevalent in the region. Overall, the Kushan pantheon represented a religious and artistic syncretism of western and eastern elements.An adept military leader who expanded Kushan power throughout much of Central Asia, Vima Kadphises was the first Kushan ruler to send a diplomatic mission to Rome, during the reign of Trajan. Vima Kadphises was also the first Kushan ruler to strike gold coins. Because the Kushans under his reign had extended their protective control over the Silk Road, the Roman gold they obtained through the trading of luxury items with the Roman Empire–such as silk, spices, and other exotic goods–provided the metal for the striking of the first Indian gold coins. In addition to the existing copper and silver denominations, Vima Kadphises introduced three gold denomination
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