---
title: 'Gold coin of Kanishka: King of Kings legend, king at the altar, deity Oesho'
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/gold-dinar-kanishka-king-of-kings-0130/
description: 'A Kushan gold coin: the obverse shows the king standing at a small fire altar under a legend in Greek letters that reads King of Kings, Kanishka the…'
section: Collection
---

[Collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/)

[![Gold coin of Kanishka: King of Kings legend, king at the altar, deity Oesho](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/gold-dinar-kanishka-king-of-kings-0130.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/gold-dinar-kanishka-king-of-kings-0130.jpg)

# Gold coin of Kanishka: King of Kings legend, king at the altar, deity Oesho

A Kushan gold coin: the obverse shows the king standing at a small fire altar under a legend in Greek letters that reads King of Kings, Kanishka the Kushan; the reverse shows a four-armed haloed deity labelled OESHO beside the royal emblem. The tell is borrowed prestige: a royal title used earlier by Parthian rulers and a god placed on the state's gold, set beside the king's own name.

- **Date:** 0130
- **Period:** [Pre-1914](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#era=pre-1914)
- **Made by:** Kushan Empire, King Kanishka
- **Region:** [South Asia](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#region=south-asia)
- **Country:** [Kushan Empire](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#country=kushan-empire)
- **Medium:** [Banknotes and coins](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#medium=banknote-coin)
- **Issuer type:** [State](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#actor=state)
- **Regime:** [Kushan Empire](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#regime=kushan-empire)
- **Leader:** [Kanishka](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#leader=kanishka)
- **Audience:** [Mixed](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#audience=mixed)
- **Purpose:** [Persuade or win support](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#purpose=persuade-support)
- **Themes:** [Religion](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#theme=religion), [Empire and colonialism](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#theme=empire-colonialism)
- **Techniques:** [Transfer](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/transfer/)
- **Source:** Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- **Source:** [The Metropolitan Museum of Art (Open Access)](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/39385), retrieved September 29, 2026
- **Rights:** Public domain (The Met Open Access, CC0; isPublicDomain true in the Met API; object about 1,900 years old) The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Bequest of Joseph H. Durkee, 1898 (99.35.3024), Open Access

## Text on the object

Original (Bactrian (written in Greek script)) · read from the image, not independently checked

```
Obverse (clockwise from lower left): ϷΑΟΝΑΝΟϷΑΟ ΚΑΝΗϷΚΙ ΚΟϷΑΝΟ

Reverse (vertical, right of the figure): ΟΗϷΟ
```

English translation (machine translation by Claude, not verified by a fluent reader)

```
Obverse: King of Kings, Kanishka the Kushan.

Reverse: Oesho (the deity's name).
```

The letter Ϸ (sho) looks like a P on the photograph. Readings follow the standard legend of this coin type; individual letters are clear but the word division is inferred. The reverse also carries a trident-like royal emblem (tamgha), which is not text.

[← Bronze sestertius of Gaius (Caligula), reverse S P Q R P P OB CIVES SERVATOS in an oak wreath](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/sestertius-caligula-ob-cives-servatos-0037/) [Gold solidus of Constantine I, reverse RESTITVTORI LIBERTATIS →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/solidus-constantine-i-restitutori-libertatis-0313/)

## Using the same techniques

- [Bronze sestertius of Gaius (Caligula), reverse S P Q R P P OB CIVES SERVATOS in an oak wreath](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/sestertius-caligula-ob-cives-servatos-0037/) (0037 · Testimonial, Transfer)
- [Gold solidus of Justinian I, reverse VICTORIA AVGGG with Victory holding a Christogram staff](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/solidus-justinian-i-victoria-avggg-0538/) (0538 · Transfer, Glittering generalities)
- [Bayeux Tapestry, scene 23: UBI HAROLD SACRAMENTVM FECIT VVILLELMO DVCI](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/bayeux-tapestry-harold-oath-to-william-1070/) (1070 · Transfer, Card stacking)
- [Frontispiece to Eikon Basilike, The Pourtraicture of His Sacred Majestie in his Solitudes and Sufferings (Hollar, 1649)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/eikon-basilike-frontispiece-hollar-1649/) (1649 · Transfer, Glittering generalities)
- [Consult of the doctors on the grave illness of the Grand Sultan (Consult vande medicijnen inde swaere siekte vanden grooten Sultaen)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/consult-of-the-doctors-sick-sultan-antwerp-1683/) (1683 · Transfer, Bandwagon)
- [The Highlanders Medley, or The Duke Triumphant (A Loyal Song)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/highlanders-medley-duke-triumphant-1746/) (1746 · Name-calling, Transfer)
- [Marche du Dom Quichotte moderne pour la deffence du Moulin des Abus (March of the Modern Don Quixote in Defence of the Mill of Abuses)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/dom-quichotte-moulin-des-abus-1791/) (1791 · Name-calling, Transfer)
- [Bonaparte, Premier Consul de la Republique Francaise: Revue du Quintidi (Boilly, Levachez, Duplessis-Bertaux)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/bonaparte-premier-consul-revue-du-quintidi-1802/) (Aug 17, 1802 · Transfer)