Vijayanagara Empire, Krishnadevaraya, Gold Dodda Honnu or 'Double Pagoda', 7.78g, Obv: Four-armed Lord Venkateshwara of Tirupati standing under an ornamental archway, wearing tapering crown (Karanda-mukuta), crocodile shaped ear-ornaments (Makara-kundalas) and other jewelled attributes shown by a flowing array of dots and lines. He holds Shankha and Chakra in his upper hands, and makes the gesture of benevolence (Varada-mudra) with lower right hand. The archway or Torana, has Makara-shaped keystones, bases of seated lions and a Keertimukha above the deity's head, Rev: Devanagari legend in three lines “Sri / Krishna Rā / ya” within a double circular border (Mitch# 1088). Best ever seen by cataloguer, Uncirculated, exceedingly rare. This extremely rare and important coin is perhaps one of the 30000 coins specially struck by Krishnadeva Raya in 1516, to perform a Kanakabhishekam (“Shower of Gold”) ceremony at the Tirupati temple, to thank the Lord for his victory over the Kondavidu and Gajapati dynasties of neighbouring Andhra-Orissa country. It shows a truly splendorous depiction of Venkateshwara, in all its jewelled glory on obverse. As compared with it the simplicity of the reverse stands out as a testimony to the King's devotion and subservience to the Lord. A numismatic masterpiece!