The gold of Vima Kadphises (c. A.D. 45-78) was struck in three denominations, the double stater (Pl. IV, 3), the stater or _dināra_,[25] as the Kushāṇas called it (= the Roman _aureus_ of 124 grains weight), and the quarter stater. On the obverse of these appears either the king’s head or bust, or the king seated cross-legged on a couch, or, as on a rare stater in the British Museum, sitting in a two-horsed chariot. On the copper coins, which are of three sizes, the king is almost invariably standing, with his right hand placing an offering upon a small altar at his side. The portrait of the king is most realistic, though hardly flattering—a corpulent figure with a long heavy face and a large nose, he appears wearing the long Kushāṇa cloak and tall “Gilgit” boots, on his head a conical hat with streamers. Vima Kadphises must have been a zealous convert to the worship of the Hindu god Śiva, for the god or his emblem, the trident battle-axe, is the invariable device on the reverse of all his coins. The title “_Sotēr Megas_” on this king’s copper coins indicates a relationship between him and the so-called “nameless king” mentioned in the previous chapter, whose coins bear the same legend. [25] _Dināra_ is derived from the Roman _denarius_. It affords an interesting example of the vicissitudes which so many coin names have experienced. The first letter of the same word _d (enarius)_ now signifies copper in English money. Kanishka, the real founder of the great Kushāṇa empire, which stretched from Kābul[26] to the banks of the Ganges, may have belonged to another branch of the Yueh-chi—he was not, at any rate, nearly related to Vima Kadphises, whose coins are distinct in many respects from those of Kanishka and his successors. One marked distinction is the use of Greek legends only by these later kings. The Greek is often very debased, and the reason suggested for its employment is that Khotanese, the native tongue of the Kushāṇas, was first reduced to writing in the Greek character. Kanishka also introduced the Iranian title, _Shāonānoshāo_—“King of Kings”—in place of the Greek form _Basileōs Basileōn_. On the reverse side of the extensive gold (full and quarter staters only) and copper coinage of Kanishka and Huvishka is portrayed a whole pantheon of gods and goddesses; among them are the Greek gods, Helios, Herakles (Pl. IV, 8), Selene; the Hindu god, Śiva (_Oesho_ on the coins); the Iranian deities, Athro, “Fire,” Oado, the wind god, Ardokhsho and Nāna, and even the great Buddha himself (Pl. IV, 4), who had previously appeared on a copper coin of Kadaphes. The representation of this “mixed multitude” was probably intended to conciliate the religious scruples of the numerous peoples included within the vast territory of the Kushāṇa Empire. A standing figure of the king appears on the obverse of Kanishka’s gold staters, on the small quarter staters is a half (Pl. IV, 5) or quarter length portrait.