An exceptionally well-struck specimen, lovely portrait with sharply rendered details and underlying lustre showing through.
Extremely fine, Exceedingly rare.

This is an unusually heavy dinar of Kumaragupta I, whose basic standard was in the 7.80-8.10g range, though a few of his dinars have been published in the 8.30-8.55 range, such as this piece. Sanjeev Kumar Gupta concluded that the dinar weight was increased very late in reign of Kumaragupta I to the 8.30-8.60g range, which was then adopted by his immediate successor Skandagupta, who later in his reign increased the weight to the 9.00-9.40g range. Dinars of the heavy weight late issue of Kumaragupta I are extremely rare. S. Kumar has listed only one specimen of this variety.

Kumaragupta I issued an impressive and diverse series of gold coins, continuing the high artistry and rich iconographic tradition of the Gupta period. His gold dinars display a wide variety of types - a few of which include the Archer, Swordsman, Lion Slayer, and the celebrated Karttikeya type - each highlighting aspects of royal virtue, martial strength, and religious devotion. Kumara was the nickname of Kartikeya, the son of Shiva and Hindu god of war, who rode peacock into battle. Kumaragupta I had adopted the title Mahendraditya, in reference to the nickname of the Hindu deity Indra (Mahendra), the king of the gods.

The Tumen (Tumain) inscription of Kumaragupta (Epigraphia Indica, Vol. 26, Pg. 146-147) adds valuable context to the imperial epithets found on his coinage. The inscription reads, “The son of the illustrious Chandragupta is Kumaragupta, who is like the great Indra and who protected the whole earth, embracing her as a virtuous wife”. The inscription praises Kumaragupta as a divinely empowered, righteous, and protective ruler, equal in splendour to God Indra, who guards and cherishes his kingdom with the same devotion with which a noble man honours his virtuous spouse.
Provenance: P.R. Krishna Collection