King Chandragupta II (375-414 AD) was one of the most powerful of all the powerful Gupta kings. He ruled the Gupta Empire in the North of India for 23 years. Comparable to the Hapsburgs in early modern Europe, the Gupta were one of the leading dynasties of antique India. This denarius shows the king with an Indian long bow and an arrow in his hand, a sword at his hip. Despite the king's bellicose appearance went the Gupta Empire through a Golden Age during his reign. It was a time of political, cultural and economic bloom. On the reverse sits in the lotus position Lakshmi, the goddess of happiness and wealth. She sits on a stylized lotus, holding a diadem and again a lotus blossom.