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Home ▸ Catalog ▸ |Greek Coins| ▸ |Hellenistic Monarchies| ▸ |Bactrian Kingdom||View Options:  |  |  | 

Bactrian Kingdom

Bactria, Afghanistan today, was part of the Persian Empire when Alexander the Great defeated King Darius III. Although Iran fell quickly, in Bactria Alexander faced strong resistance. The land was inherited by the Seleukids, but the satrap Diodotos declared himself an independent king, c. 255 B.C. The Greek kings of Bactria expanded their influence to India but later as their territory shrank until they became an isolated island of Greek rule. This isolated Greek area in India, which lasted three centuries, ended when the last Greek king was defeated by the Kushans.

Baktria, Diodotus I as Satrap for Antiochus II Theos, c. 255 - 250 B.C.

|Bactrian| |Kingdom|, |Baktria,| |Diodotus| |I| |as| |Satrap| |for| |Antiochus| |II| |Theos,| |c.| |255| |-| |250| |B.C.||stater|
Diodotus I was the Seleukid governor of Baktro-Sogdiana early in Antiochos II's reign. His first coinage was issued with the Seleukid monarch's portrait. He then issued coins, like this one, with his own portrait, yet retaining the name of Antiochos as king. Diodotus' territory was so remote that he was king in all but title. About 250 B.C., he took the title too and issued coins as king in his own name (BAΣIΛΕΩΣ ΔIOΔOTOY).

Recent scholarship shows that Ai Khanoum (Greek name uncertain) was the principal mint of the region, located on the frontier between Afghanistan and the former Soviet Union.
SH21940. Gold stater, Houghton-Lorber 629.1, Newell ESM 713, SGCV II 7497, EF, weight 8.375 g, maximum diameter 18.4 mm, die axis 180o, Ai Khanoum mint, c. 255 - 250 B.C.; obverse diademed head of middle-aged Diodotus I right; reverse BAΣIΛEΩΣ ANTIOXOY, naked Zeus striding left, aegis over extended left arm, about to hurl fulmen with raised right arm, eagle and N in field; fantastic specimen, with mint luster, struck from the finest early Hellenistic style dies, and not marred by the usual test cut!; rare; SOLD


Baktria, Diodotus I as Satrap for Antiochus II Theos, c. 255 - 250 B.C.

|Bactrian| |Kingdom|, |Baktria,| |Diodotus| |I| |as| |Satrap| |for| |Antiochus| |II| |Theos,| |c.| |255| |-| |250| |B.C.||stater|
Diodotus I was the Seleukid governor of Baktro-Sogdiana early in Antiochos II's reign. His first coinage was issued with the Seleukid monarch's portrait. He then issued coins, like this one, with his own portrait, yet retaining the name of Antiochos as king. Diodotus' territory was so remote that he was king in all but title. About 250 B.C., he took the title too and issued coins as king in his own name (BAΣIΛΕΩΣ ΔIOΔOTOY).

Recent scholarship shows that Ai Khanoum (Greek name uncertain) was the principal mint of the region, located on the frontier between Afghanistan and the former Soviet Union.
SH18896. Gold stater, Houghton-Lorber 629.1, Newell ESM 713, SGCV II 7497, EF, test cut to head, weight 8.292 g, maximum diameter 18.1 mm, die axis 180o, Ai Khanoum mint, obverse diademed head of middle-aged Diodotus I right; reverse BAΣIΛEΩΣ ANTIOXOY, Zeus striding left, naked, aegis over extended left arm, hurling fulmen with raised right, N over eagle inner left; rare; SOLD


Bactrian Kingdom, Eukratides I, c. 171 - 135 B.C.

|Bactrian| |Kingdom|, |Bactrian| |Kingdom,| |Eukratides| |I,| |c.| |171| |-| |135| |B.C.||tetradrachm|
Struck on the Attic weight tetradrachm standard.
SH31089. Silver tetradrachm, Mitchiner IGIS I, type 177(ee); SNG ANS 465; Bop. 6E, UNC, weight 16.962 g, maximum diameter 33.0 mm, die axis 0o, chief workshop, Pushkala mint, c. 160 - 135 B.C.; obverse helmeted, draped and diademed bust right, fillet border; reverse BAΣIΛEΩΣ MEΓAΛOY EYKPATIΔOY, the Dioskouroi on horseback right, each holding a palm branch and spear, monogram below right; scarce; SOLD







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REFERENCES|

Bopearachchi, O. Monnaies Gréco-Bactriennes et Indo-Grecques. (Paris, 1991).
Bopearachchi, O & A. ur Rahman. Pre-Kushana Coins in Pakistan. (Karachi, 1995).
Bopearachchi. O. "Sophytes, the Enigmatic Ruler" in Nomismatika Khronika 15 (1996).
Cunningham, A. Coins of Alexander's Successors in the East. (1873; reprint Chicago, 1969).
Gardner, P. The Coins of the Greek and Scythic Kings of Bactria and India in the British Museum. (London, 1886).
Houghton, A., C. Lorber & O. Hoover. Seleucid Coins: A Comprehensive Catalog. (Lancaster, 2002 - 2008).
Hoover, O. Handbook of Coins of Baktria and Ancient India, 5th Century BC to First Century AD. HGC 12. (Lancaster, PA, 2013)
Kritt, B. Dynastic Transitions in the Coinage of Bactria: Antiochus-Diodotus-Euthydemus. CNS 4. (Lancaster, PA, 2001).
Kritt, B. New Discoveries in Bactrian Numismatics. CNS 8 (Lancaster, PA, 2015).
Kritt, B. Seleucid Coins of Bactria. CNS 1. (Lancaster, PA, 1996).
Mitchiner, M. Ancient Trade and Early Coinage. (London, 2004).
Mitchiner, M. Indo-Greek and Indo-Scythian Coinage. (London, 1975-1976).
Mitchiner, M. Oriental Coins: the Ancient and Classical World. (London, 1978).
Newell, E. The Coinage of the Eastern Seleucid Mints. From Seleucus I to Antiochus III. (New York, 1938).
Rapson, E. Indian Coins in Bühler's Grundriss der Indo-arischen Philologie. (1898).
Sear, D. Greek Coins and Their Values, Volume 2, Asia and Africa. (London, 1979).
Senior, R. Indo-Scythian Coins and History. (London, 2001; supplement: London, 2006).
Senior, R. The Coinage of Hermaios and its imitations struck by the Scythians. CNS 3. (Lancaster, PA, 2000).
Smith, V. Catalogue of Coins in the Indian Museum. (1906).
Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum, Denmark, The Royal Collection of Coins and Medals, Danish National Museum, Volume 7: Cyprus to India. (New Jersey, 1982).
Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum, The Collection of the American Numismatic Society, Part 9: Graeco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek Coins. (New York, 1998).
Taylor, L. "Birds of Feather, Brothers in Arms: The Coinage of Andragoras and Sophytes" in AJN 31 (2019), pp. 21 - 79, pls. 6 - 12.
Von Sallet, A. "Die Nachfolger Alexanders d. Gr. in Bactrien u. Indien" in Z. f. N. 1879-83.

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