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 Replies: 92 / Views: 15,363 |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
6130 Posts |
Series 5 - Vaghela Type Area - Gujarat region Time period - 1200-1300 AD? Attributed to - Vaghelas Overall rarity - Very common Price range - $5 Fabric Flan diameter - Small Die size - Much larger than flan Typical centering - Good Strike quality - Good Thickness - Very thick Weight - 3.9 - 4.7g Typical wear - Light Silver purity - Medium/low Design Engraving skill - Poor Design relief - Extremely high Equally common as the Gadhaiya Paisa proper, this series is a step further down the abstraction route, more toward crude than "stylized". These are characterized by extremely thick flans, noticibly lower silver content (If given an acid bath to clean them, they will come out looking pickled), and an extreme lack of facial details. There is almost never anything besides the face and the top part of the fire altar visible, but some specimens may show the arms of the attendants or part of the ear or ribbon, indicating that the dies used were much, much larger than the flans. Some earlier specimens exhibit eyes; most are eyeless but have noses, and some very late examples do not have a nose at all and just look like a large pill surrounded by smaller pills. I got a variety of these because they are cheap; I will post them all but coast through the analysis because there simply isn't much here to analyze! 5.01 13mm 4.26g   This is so far my only example of the early type with an eye; it shares some characteristics with the very late Gadhaiya Paisa, but: - The nose is very crude and detached from the face, and terminates in a large dot - The ribbon (barely visible and mostly off flan) is now even with the tip of the nose, not the lips as with all previous series. The three horizontal lines seem to be present, but are similarly much higher in relation to the face. - The hat's decorations terminate in dots, giving the appearance that the beard wraps all the way around the head - The fabric is much different; these coins are noticeably lower purity on smaller flans that are approaching spherical. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6130 Posts |
(Trying one coin per post here, on account of how cumbersome these pages are becoming. Let me know if you want me to switch back to 5ish per post) 5.02 14mm 4.58g   Here the eye is gone and the entire portrait has become more "chunky" and the reverse at least shows a good bit of the flame. This coin is struck in *impressive* relief! You have to see it from the side for full effect:  Edited by Finn235
06/03/2017 3:49 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6130 Posts |
5.03 14mm 4.56g   About the same as the last one, but black. I don't know whether this one is an extremely low grade billon (unlikely due to the good surfaces) or is simply heavily tarnished. We can see some of the attendant's arms on the reverse, at least. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6130 Posts |
5.04 15mm 4.50g   Still no eye, but the head shape seems to be a bit more realistic. We can also see the ribbon and at least most of the fire altar, which is unusual for this series. This one has quite a rough surface, probably a result of being soaked in acid to clean it after it was dug up. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6130 Posts |
5.05 13mm 4.27g   The ribbon seems to have moved back down to the "correct" spot for this one, although I cannot tell if the horizontal lines are present at all. We can see how stumpy the attendants' arms have become on the reverse. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6130 Posts |
5.06 14mm 4.36g   This is a very slightly different style of Vaghela drachm, with a smaller face. Still no improvement in the art quality, however. For the first time, the reverse shows the moon above the fire altar, which at least proves it's still there. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7066 Posts |
Interesting how in this latest set the upper part of the heads has become more symmetrical, almost like an arrowhead. Good update.
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Pillar of the Community
 Spain
2752 Posts |
Just flicked back to series 1 to refresh my memory of how it all started and the difference  .. Any chance you could post one picture from the different eras next to each other to visually show the difference in one picture? Again an excellent thread Thanks for sharing  Paul  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7066 Posts |
Good thought, Paul. A group shot (or a series of side-by-sides) with representative examples from each stage would help underscore the transitions. Ancientnoob attempted a group shot a few years back to illustrate the development (or degeneration?) from the Sassanian prototypes: http://goccf.com/t/187899But, obviously, Noob was painting a picture in very broad strokes. Nothing like the detailed analysis that Finn is treating us to here. Edited by Kamnaskires
06/04/2017 09:33 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6130 Posts |
No worries, I am planning on doing a recap when I finish up the current track. More than just a picture, I would like to highlight what I have observed as a defense of my hypotheses about the coins as a series. After the remaining Vaghela coins, we still have the "Unusual Nose", Malwa, Silahara, and Sri Omkara types to cover before the wrap-up  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6130 Posts |
Buuuut, since you did ask so nicely...   |
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Valued Member
United States
90 Posts |
Beautiful Finn! I'm not a collector of this type but when you photograph them together like this it almost looks, collectively, like an abstract painting! Good job.
Steve S.
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Moderator
 United States
34424 Posts |
That is way cool! "If you climb a good tree, you get a push."
-----Ghanaian proverb
"The danger we all now face is distinguishing between what is authentic and what is performed."
-----King Adz
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Pillar of the Community
Spain
2752 Posts |
Excellent finn thanks! Now with my old eyes this REALLY helps me to see the change of design and size of flan without having to flick backwards and forwards. Thanks again and looking forward to the rest Saludos Paul |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4212 Posts |
Why do you consider this a 'hush-hush project'?
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Replies: 92 / Views: 15,363 |
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Posted 06/03/2017 3:47 pm
