Palas Dynasty Bengal

Nice acquisition! I bought at least a third of his stock of those coins - only a few batches have come to market since I started collecting Indo Sassanian coins.

Not much is known about these, but what I have read agrees with what Kushanshah stated already. Maheshwari claims there are two categories of this branch of proto Sri Vigra coinage, which are also joined by a similar type with a large squarish bust. Most authors seem to think that these coins are illiterate derivatives of the earlier "Sri Ma" coinage, although I suspect that the crescents may be a highly stylized "ja" - compare against your Jagadeva Kashmir stater. "Sri Ja" is an early cousin of the "Sri Ma" drachms, although there are no intermediate types and the few I have seen all use the earlier letter form of Ja that looks like an E.

I'm referring to the two or three crescent shapes immediately in front of the nose/mouth of the portrait. It is more clear on some coins than on others. I bought these two specifically for the feature:

(Maheshwari's Type A - note the attendants have full bodies)


(Maheshwari's Type B - note the attendants' legs meet directly to the arm)


I'll shamelessly swipe your Jagadeva with overlay to add credence to my point