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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Parthicus, post: 3202670, member: 81887&quot;]Due to some financial constraints, it looks like my collecting for a while will be mostly limited to &quot;snacks&quot; , but that doesn&#039;t mean I will collect boring coins.&nbsp; Here&#039;s one of my most recent acquisitions:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]829207[/ATTACH] </p><p>Kushan Kingdom, Kapisa mint (Kabul valley).&nbsp; AE tetradrachm.&nbsp; Kujula Kadphises (early 1st century AD).&nbsp; Obverse: Bust derived from the Into-Greek ruler Hermaios, blundered legend in Greek &quot;Basilews Sterossu [sic] Ermaiou&quot; (Of King Hermaios, Savior).&nbsp; Reverse: Herakles standing with club and lion skin, legend in Kharoshthi &quot;Kujula Kasasa Kushana Yavugasa Dharmathidasa&quot; (Kujula Kadphises, Ruler of the Kushans, Steadfast in the Law).&nbsp; Cf. Mitchiner ACW 2844-2848.</p><p><br /></p><p>Kujula Kadphises was king of the Kushans in Central Asia and Northern India in the early 1st century AD, though as with most events in central Asian history around this time, the exact dates are uncertain and different sources give different numbers.&nbsp;&nbsp; He is sometimes considered the founder of the Kushan Kingdom, as he united the Yuezhi (a confederation of five nomadic tribes, including the Kushans) by killing the heads of the other four tribes.&nbsp; He expanded Kushan territory at the expense of the Indo-Parthians, among others.&nbsp; A Chinese historical chronicle claims that he lived past the age of eighty, and he was the father of the Kushan king Vima Takhto (who struck the extensive &quot;Soter Megas&quot; coinage) and great-grandfather of Kanishka I.</p><p><br /></p><p>This coin shows a mix of Hellenistic influences (Greek language, portrait style, Herakles) with Indian elements (Kharoshthi script, reference to Dharma), which is also common on later Kushan coins.&nbsp; The obverse portrait and inscription are based on coins of the Indo-Greek king Hermaios, from the 1st century BC.&nbsp; This may be an attempt by Kujula Kadphises to associate himself with the glory of his predecessor.&nbsp; Interestingly, there is a mistake in the Greek, with the word &quot;soteros&quot; (savior) turned into &quot;sterossu&quot;.&nbsp; This is not simply a mistake by one die-cutter, but is the standard inscription for this coin type of Kujula Kadphises.&nbsp; This may indicate that local knowledge of the Greek language was fading, or perhaps that the local dialect of Greek was evolving away from the Koine Greek then current around the Mediterranean.&nbsp; (I welcome input from someone who knows more about this.)&nbsp; The reverse title of Dharmathidasa (Steadfast in Dharma [Law]) implies Kujula Kadphises may have been a Buddhist; his great-grandson Kanishka I is known to have been a devout Buddhist.</p><p><br /></p><p>This coin was purchased from [USER=78244]@TypeCoin971793[/USER] for $15, which I think was a very reasonable price.&nbsp; While this coin is hardly a gem, all the major design elements are clear, as is a good part of the legend.&nbsp; Post your Kushan coins, or whatever else you feel is related.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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