Quarto di dinaro Kushan con la figura di Budda

[apollonia]

Salve.

Sull’opuscolo appena ricevuto con i risultati delle aste Gorny & Mosch 257-258 di metà ottobre, la moneta del titolo rappresenta l’highlight o piatto forte che dir si voglia con il prezzo di aggiudicazione più alto: 110.000 €.

KUSHAN. Kaniska I., 127 - 151 n. Chr. 1/4 Dinar (1,98g). Mzst. unbest. Vs.: Stehender Herrscher mit Rock u. wehendem, flammenbesetztem Schultermantel hält in der Linken ein Zepter u. opfert an einem Altar. Rs.: ΒΟΔΔΟ, stehender Sakyamuni Buddha in langem Gewand und Nimbus. Rechts Thamga. Göbl, Kushan 73 (Rs. stgl.); Göbl, Donum Burns ­ ; ANS ­ ; Cribb 1999 5 (stgl.).

Gold. RRR! Erste Darstellung des Buddha in der Münzprägung! Rs. feiner Stempelriss, vz
Aus der Sammlung eines Geschichtsfreundes. Ex The New York Sale 23, 2010, 296; ex Spink-Taisei Catalogue 9, Singapur 1991, 18 (Zuschlag 125.000,-$); ex Skanda Collection.
Parallelstücke in: CNG, Triton XX, 2017, 434 (Rs. stgl., Zuschlag 42.500,-$); CNG 70, 2005, 497; BN Paris (= Göbl, Kushan 73); CNG Triton VII, 2004, 701 (stgl.); Cribb 2009, 5 (Japanese private collection) = Silk Road Couis, The Hirayama Collection (1993) Abb. 126 (stgl.).
Das Königreich der Kushan entstand im 2. Jh.v.Chr. aus einem Zweig der indogermanischen Yüeh-Chi, die um 170 v. Chr. aus Nordwestchina vertrieben wurden. Die fünf Stämme konnten unter Kujala, dem Stammesführer der Kushan, geeint werden. Seinen Höhepunkt erreichte das Reich unter König Kanshika, der vom Aralsee bis nach Nordindien herrschte. Die herrschenden Kushan übernahmen die vielfältige Götter- und Glaubenswelt ihrer multiethnischen Untertanen, was für die heutigen Betrachter vor allem in der Ikonographie der Münzen deutlich wird. Auch dem Buddhismus gegenüber zeigte sich Kanishka offen. Als erster ließ er Münzbilder mit dem Bildnis des Gautama Siddharta prägen und veranstaltete sogar ein Konzil, das als Beginn des Mahajana-Buddhismus gilt. Die Münzen mit dem Bildnis des Religionsgründers wurden wohl im letzten Regierungsjahr des Kanishka geprägt (Cribb 1999 S.158).

 

Kanishka è il più noto e più grande re Kusana, una delle cinque tribù in cui si dividevano gli Yueh-chi della Battriana al principio dell’era volgare, che designa anche l’impero da essi creato nei primi secoli dell’era volgare in una vasta area comprendente gran parte degli odierni Afghanistan, Turkestan meridionale e India settentrionale.

 

[Ospite]

This is one of the earliest physical representations of the Buddha in any medium.

(da CoinIndia che mostra il Dinar e riporta, senza foto, che esiste il quarto)  

[apollonia]

Questo sottomultiplo del dinaro indiano è veramente rarissimo. Ecco l’esemplare della Triton XX citato nella didascalia Gorny.

Extremely Rare Buddha Quarter Dinar

INDIA, Kushan Empire. Kanishka I. Circa AD 127-151. AV Quarter Dinar (14mm, 1.88 g, 12h). Main mint in Baktria (Balkh?). Late phase. ÞαO(retrograde h)α(retrograde h)OÞαO Kα (retrograde h)HÞKI KOÞα(retrograde h), Kanishka, diademed and crowned, standing facing, head left, holding goad and scepter, sacrificing over altar to left; flame at shoulder / BOΔΔO downward to left, standing Śākyamuni Buddha: Buddha standing facing, hand raised in gesture of abhayamudrā; tamgha to right. Cribb, Buddha 4 (dies c/3) = MK 73 (O35/R2); ANS Kushan –; Donum Burns –; CNG 70, lot 497 (same rev. die); New York Sale XXIII, lot 296 = Skanda Collection (Spink-Taisei 9), lot 18 (same rev. die). Near VF, evidence of prior mounting. Extremely rare, one of five known.

Triton XX, Lot: 434. Estimate $20000. Sold for $42500.

 

[apollonia]

Dinaro corrispondente (Triton XII).

INDIA, Kushan Empire. Kanishka I. Circa AD 127/8-152. AV Dinar (7.93 g, 12h). Mint I (A). 3rd emission. ÞAONANOÞAO KA NhÞKI KOÞANO, Kanishka standing facing, head turned left, flames on shoulder, holding standard in his left hand, sacrificing over altar to left / BOΔΔO, Buddha, nimbate, standing facing, wearing samghati (a long pleated garment), his head with eyes wide open and large mustache, ashnisha on head, urna between eyebrows, his right hand is raised in the gesture of reassurance, abhayamudra, and he holds a pleat of his robe in his left hand; tamgha to right. Cribb, Buddha - (dies a/2 [unlisted die combination); MK 66 (O7/R- [unlisted rev. die]); Hirayama 50 (same rev. die); Carter, Consideration, fig. 1b (same rev. die). Good VF, a few light marks. The fourth extant Buddha dinar, the Boston specimen having been lost.

Ex Triton VIII (10 January, 2005), lot 676.

 

 

For a detailed study and complete listing of Kanishka’s Buddha coins in both gold and copper, see Cribb, “Kanishka’s Buddha image coins revisited,” Silk Road Art and Archaeology 6 (Kamakura, 2000), pp. 151-89. The three previously recorded Buddha gold dinars are as follows: one in the British Museum (BMC 16b, accession no. IOC289; illustrated in MK), the Hirayama specimen, one previously in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts (Museum of Fine Arts Bulletin, Boston 1965, p. 147, fig. 10; illustrated in Carter, Consideration; stolen and destroyed in 1978), and a final one in a private collection, recently published by O. Bopearachichi in From Oxus to India (Lattes, 2002).

The name Kushan derives from the Chinese term Kouei-chouang, used to describe one branch of the Yueh Chi, a loose confederation of Indo-European people who had been living in northwestern China until they were driven west by the Turko-Mongol Hsiug-nu in about 170 BC. The Yueh Chi reached Baktria in the second century BC and by the first century AD were united under king Kujula. Gradually wresting control of the area from the Scytho-Parthians, the Yueh Chi moved south into the northwest Indian region of Gandhara, today parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan. With its capital established near Kabul, the Kushan Empire was soon acknowledged as great a power as China, Rome, and Parthia.
 

Under Kanishka, the third king, the Kushan Empire reached its greatest extent, a territory ranging from central Asia into northern India as far east as Benares and as far south as Sanchi. The empire was administered from two capitals: Peshawar near the Khyber Pass, and Mathura in northern India. It was a period of great wealth marked by extensive mercantile activities, seagoing trade and commerce along the Silk Route to China. This multi-ethnic empire, tolerant of religious differences, produced an eclectic culture vividly expressive in the visual arts. Coin reverses as well as artifacts from the Gandhara and Mothura schools of art exhibit deities of Greek, Roman, Iranian, and Hindu mythologies and some of the earliest representations of the Buddha.

Buddhism is based on the teaching of Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as The Buddha, who lived approximately 563 to 483 BC. The word Buddha, meaning awakened or enlightened one, is a title, not a proper name. Siddhartha Gautama was born a prince in the kingdom Sakyas situated on what is now the border area between India and Nepal. At the age of 29, desiring to know the path that leads to the ending of all impermanence and anguish, and to ensure his permanent well-being, he renounced everything of the world, becoming a homeless ascetic, vowing to find the path to ultimate enlightenment and resolving to teach others what he had discovered about the Four Noble Truths and the chain of causation to achieve Nirvana.

Kanishka, a fervent Buddhist, is best remembered today for sponsoring the first great Buddhist conference at Kanish Vihar, that led to the adoption and promotion of Mahayana Buddhism, a school of thought that revered the life of Buddha as much as his spiritual teaching. The great bronze plaques that recorded the conference proceedings have never been found, but we are fortunate to have a report of the conference from the Chinese scholar Hien Tsang. The Buddha coinage was probably struck as a special issue in conjunction with the conference, and the image of Buddha would have made a stunning impact at the time. Buddha had previously only been represented in symbolic form, but under Kanishka the fusion of Greek and Indian culture led to the portrayal of Buddha in human form. Kanishka’s coins were among these first representations and provide the earliest firmly datable images of the Buddha in any artistic medium.

Significantly, our coin provides proof that the known Buddha dinars are from just one closely linked i

 

[Ambronummus]

Le monete Kushan sono eccezionali sotto ogni punto di vista, stilisticamente le trovo curatissime specialmente quelle coniate in oro, storicamente significative data la posizione dell'impero tra occidente e oriente estremo che permette di ammirare le contaminazioni tra greco-romani, persiani e indiani sia a livello stilistico che di un sincretismo religioso. Peccato sia una monetazione così lontana e anche abbastanza dispendiosa per quanto riguarda le monete d'oro.

[sarikanair]

I love Kushan Empire coins of Kanishka I because of their high relief designs, inscriptions and detailing that clearly suggest the kind of traditions and cultures that were prevalent back in those days... I have always dreamt of owning one of these pieces and started looking for websites that sell Kushan Empire coins at a decent price.. I finally fumbled upon a link which excited me.. check this out here:  
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