INDIA, Post-Mauryan (Malwa). Ujjain. AE (Bronze, 15 mm, 3.70 g), circa 2nd century BC. Female and male standing side by side, holding hands; below, river with fish. Rev. Four-orbed Ujjain symbol with taurine in each orb. Pieper 301. Very fine.


The figures on the obverse of this coin are believed to be Mithuna, the divine couple of Hindu mythology, making it one of the earliest such depictions. Many of the ancient representations of Mithuna in Indian art showed the couple during sexual intercourse and were therefore destroyed in the course of the Islamization of India.