Lot 1045

Description

Huvishka, (c.A.D. 260-292), gold quarter stater or dinar, (1.94 grams), obv. bust of upper part of king nimbate to left, wearing rounded plain leather helmet and tight-fitting tunic, holding a mace in his right hand, legend around, rev. God Pharro standing to right, holding sceptre, behind legend upwards **F*APPO, (Gobl 162 [same dies], not in M.-). Superb extremely fine and extremely rare.

This type was not present in the Dr. Lawrence Brilliant Collection of Kushan gold, in the Spink-Taisei, Singapore sale 9. Pharro is the bestower of fire and wealth, the divine representation of glory and awe. The bowl is the vehicle for the bestowal of fire. His spendour distinguished the royal and the divine from the mundane and the lowly. It is Pharro who is associated with the flames typically represented as emanating from the king's shoulders on most Kushan coins.