Ruler : Vasudeva I
Era : (190-230 AD)
Dynasty : Kushan
Mint : Mathura
Denomination : Reduced Tetradrachm
Weight :  8.27 g
Diameter :  21.6 mm
Book Reference : W.Pieper # 1265

Obverse :
Crowned king standing left, holding a trident and sacrificing at altar left, with Bactrian legend around.

Reverse :
Two armed oesho (shiva) standing facing, holding a diadem and trident, with Bull nandi behind and tamgha at right.

Comment :
The coinage of Vasudeva consisted in gold dinars and quarter dinars, as well as copper coins. Vasudeva almost entirely removed the pantheon of deities displayed in the coinage of Kanishka and Huvishka. Apart from a few coins with the effigies of Mao and Nana, all of Vasudeva’s coins feature Oesho on the reverse, who is generally identified as Shiva. On the obverse, Vasudeva restored the royal imagery of Kanishka, with the standing, making a sacrifice over an altar, although he holds a trident rather than Kanishka’s spear and he appears nimbate. Another trident is sometimes also added over the small sacrificial altar. At the end of his rule, Vasudeva introduced the nandipada symbol on his coinage.
His name “Vāsudeva”, is that of the popular Hindu God Vāsudeva, which is refer to Krishna, and he was the first Kushan king to be named after the Indian God. He converted to Hinduism during his reign. His name reinforces the notion that his center of power was in Mathura. The coin offered here is a reduced weight tetradrachm issued by Vasudeva I from Mathura Mint. Very Scarce.