One of my favorite coins in my collection, normally the reverse would be also along the same direction as the lion, but here whoever struck it, placed the horse and rider along the shorter lenght of the coin, removing most of the details. do share your favorite Indo scythian coins! Indo-Skythians, Northern Satraps, Kharahostes. ca 20-1 BC.ÃAE Square Unit. XAPAHWCTEI CATPAPEI APTAYOY, king on horseback right; uncertain Kharosthi letter to right / Lion to right; Kharosthi letter and X in fields. Senior 143
Neat coin! I recently acquired a few of these Indo Greco square guys in a time line auction! Eukratides (171-145 BC), Bronze Unit, BN series 19, 8.99g. Obv: Helmeted bust of king, Greek legend BASILEOS MEGALOU EUKRATIDOU. Rev: Dioskuroideson horseback; Kharoshthi legend above and below MaharajasaEwukratidasa. Ex: Timeline Auc Lysias BAKTRIA, Indo-Greek Kingdom. Circa 130-125 BC. Æ (20x20mm, 8.82 g, 12h). Indian standard. Head of Herakles right, lion’s skin tied around neck, club over shoulder / Elephant advancing right; monograms in exergue. Bopearachchi 8A; SNG ANS 1040-7. VF, dark green patina.Ex: Timeline Auction Heliokles II GREEK KINGS of BAKTRIA, Circa 90-75 BC. Æ Quadruple Unit (23mm, 7.83 g, 12h). Indian standard. Diademed bust right / Elephant advancing left; monogram below. BopearachchiSérie 7C; SNG ANS 1152 var. (monogram). Ex: Timeline Auction
lovely! theres always an appeal to square coins which round coins dont have. The last coin you have is from taxilla, post mauryan era, A lion with swastika and elephant. 1 1/2 karashpana. heres mine! (with a lot of surface deformities. I have another in worser condition which was found from the ground with similar surface deformities) got it localy at a price of 5$
According to Wiktionary, the name is "... possibly a corrupted form of an older खरोष्ट्री (kharoṣṭrī, “the script of Kharoshtra”), which is itself derived from खरोष्ट्र (kharoṣṭra), the name of the region in Northwest India where the script was used ..." I couldn't figure out if the region was named after Kharohostes, or Kharohostes was named after the region, or if there is a common origin.
Nice coins! I have a handful of Scythian coins in my Indian collection. Azes AR/BI Tetradrachm, Zeus standing with Nike / King on horseback Scythians imitating Hermaios, BI Tetradrachm Azilises (?) AE square unit, King on horseback / Herakles seated on rock This one's a toss up: An imitation of an Apollodotus II drachm, vaguely Scythian in style, but it's way too light, at a little under a gram - Scythians seemed to debase the coinage, but respected weight standards to an extent... (No longer my coin; sold on ebay last year)
INDO-SCYTHIA India Indo-Scythian King Azes I 57-30BCE AR Drachm Scythia 2 AE Arrowheads 7th-3rd C BC Trilobate Lower Danube 21-25mm All I got for Scythian...
Here's Indo-scythian square I'm quite fond of.. Indo-Scythian, Azes, 1st century BC O: King mounted on horse right, holding spear, Greek legend around: BAΣIΛEΩΣ BAΣIΛEΩN MEΓAΛOY / AZOY R: Humped bull standing right, monograms above, Kharoshthi legend. 20 mm, 9.5 g.
Not a coin, but I did just pick up a copy of Osmund Bopearachchi's work on Ahman Ur Rahmans extensive collection of pre-Kushan coinage, a large portion of which deals with the Indo-Greek, Scythians, and Parthian coins of the region.
This last imitation coin has all the traits of kashmir smast coin, a series of cave temples and people who copied producrd copy coins of kushans, hindus, muslim invaders etc. All weigh around a gram and most have thin planchets. Added to my wishlist of coin books!
I've been interested in these types lately, and have acquired a few examples. I especially like the square bronzes. I think it's for the same reasons that draw me to Alexandrian coinage, namely the visual evidence of cultural exchange. Menander, Indo-Greek King circa 165-130 BC Obverse: Diademed, bare-headed bust of king right, discontinuous Greek legend around: BAΣIΛEΩΣ ΣΩTHPOΣ MENANΔPOY Reverse: Seen from behind, Athena Alkidemos standing left, holding horizontal shield and hurling thunderbolt, monogram at left, Kharoshthi legend around: maharajasa tratarasa menamdrasa Antialkidas, Indo-Greek King circa 115-95 BC, 20mm, 8g Obverse: Bust of Zeus right, holding thunderbolt in right hand, BAΣIΛEΩΣ NIKHΦOPOY ANTIAΛKIΔOY Reverse: Caps and palms of the Dioscuri, monogram at left, Kharoshthi inscription aroundmaharajasa jayadharasa amtialikidasa Diomedes, Indo-Greek King circa 95-90 BC, 20mm, 8.44g Obverse: Dioscuri standing facing, holding spears, legend around, BAΣIΛEΩΣ ΣΩTHPOΣ ΔIOMHΔOY Reverse: Humped bull walking right, Kharoshthi legend around, maharajasa tratarasa diyametasa Vonones with Spalahores, Indo-Scythian kings circa early 1st century BC Obverse: Herakles facing, crowning self with right hand, holding club and lion’s skin, legend around: BAΣIΛEΩΣ BA ΣIΛEΩN MEΓ AΛOY ONΩNOY Reverse: Athena left, holding spear and shield, raising right hand, monogram on left; legend around: maharajabhrata dhramikasa spalahorasa