Western Kshatrapas, Visvasena - Not Your Typical Magoo

I love the drachms of the Western Satraps - they are beautiful, easy enough to decipher with just the most basic understanding of Brahmi, and best of all, cheap!

Visvasena ruled from about 292-304, the only son of Bhartradaman, and the final descendant of Chastana to rule - his successor Rudrasimha founded a new, unrelated dynasty. No records survive, but based on the highly unusual portraiture, I suspect that Visvasena may have suffered from a congenital disorder, perhaps Down's Syndrome.

His coins are quite common and famous for having a distinct "Mr Magoo" portrait with large, deeply-set eyes roughly level with the nostril or top lip. This one however has a somewhat more conventional portrait of unusually good workmanship. The legend is also special because it is both upside down, giving the patronymic at the 12:00 position and Visvasena's name at 6:00. In the patronymic, rather than Mahakshatrapa, Bhartradaman's title is Mahachhatrapa - note the character at 11:00 that looks a little, well... phallic.