Very Fine, Exceedingly Rare and a historically Important coin.

The coins of the Vrishnis are by far the rarest of the so-called 'Tribal' coins of India. Only one silver specimen, from the Alexander Cunningham collection, is known to exist in the British Museum and has been published by Mitchiner as Type 928 in MIGIS. The coin offered here differs from the known example is certain ways – it has the Brahmi legend oriented in a different way and it shows more hybridisation in the language. The motifs on the coins have generated considerable discussion too. The depiction of the standard here is unique in numismatic art. The wheel, along with the Nandipada, elephant and lion, all suggest a Buddhist connection, however the imagery is packaged in the Pancaratra or proto-Vaishnava idiom. As such the coin is an excellent example of how symbols speak different cultic 'languages' and can adopt interesting forms. It is interesting to note that standards with similar capitals – a composite lion-plough and wheel – are seen on the early Western Kshatrapa coins. The Vrishnis were known to Panini and to Kautilya; the latter describes them as a Sangha. In the Mahabharata they are counted amongst the Vratya brotherhood of Kshatriyas. As one of the Yadava clans they are closely associated with Krishna in myth and lore. It is said that they migrated to Dwaraka from Mathura, after Krishna's capital was besieged by the demon Kalayavana. The reference to 'Yavana' here and the subsequent migration from Mathura may have had some historical basis.