Tetradracma de bronze de Vima Kadphises

AE tetradrachm or unit, c. first quarter of 2nd. CenturyKing standing facing, sacrificing at fire altar at left, club, tamgha and axehead-shafted trident in fields, Greek legend around: BACIEYC BACIEWN CWTHP MEAC OOHMO KAICHC/Siva standing facing, holding trident and deerskin, bull Nandi right behind, bead and reel border aroundGöbl 760, MAC 3006Vima Kadphises was the father of the great Kanishka I. He probabaly reigned during the first quarter of the 2nd century. The empire must have begun its rapid ascent during his reign, as he introduced gold coinage to accompany the well-developed bronze coinage. Silver coinage seems to have disappeared from the Kushan money supply with Vima Takha (who also isssued very few silver coinsThis coin introduces a powerful new image of the king: a full height representation exuding power, sacrificing at a fire altar, and surrounded by evocative symbols. This early bronze coinage was issued in two denominations: a tetradrachm (or unit) and a drachm (or quarter unit). The early, very rare coinage, like this and the next coin, featured a bead and reel border on the reverse ... this was later replaced by a Kharoshthi legend. The fact that the gold coins always feature a Kharoshthi legend suggests that these mono-lingual bronze coins were issued first and the gold coins were issued some years later, when Vima's power (and wealth) had grown.26,68mm, 16,21gms