Silver coin of the Kuninda Kingdom
2nd–1st century BCE ・ silver ・ 1st century BC ・ Himalayan foothills, Kuninda Kingdom
obverse
reverse
A silver coin of the Kuninda Kingdom, which was based in the Himalayan foothills. The reference dates it to the 2nd to 1st centuries BCE. On the coin's face, a deer stands beside a goddess. This is not the silver of an empire, but rather silver struck in its own name by a kingdom in the mountains. The monetary history of the subcontinent is not composed solely of the genealogies of great empires. The art of coinage also existed in places beyond the reach of central authority, where local animals were depicted on the currency.