KIDARITE, Vinayaditya, late 5th c. AD, base gold stater

Description

A line of Kidarite kings in Jammu and Kashmir issued gold coins of decreasing fineness in the 5th century AD.

The Kidarite kingdom was centered in Pakistan, and extended into Afghanistan and northern India for a time.

The earliest ancient Indian coins were the “bent bar” punchmarked silvers of the Achaemenid Persians occupying Gandhara in northwest Pakistan. By the 3rd century BC coins were in general use in most of India and Ceylon, and in subsequent centuries struck round coins in gold, silver, and copper came into use throughout the subcontinent and beyond to Southeast Asia and Pacific islands to Java and beyond.