I have been looking for a decent reference book for the coins of Bactria and India for my Numismatic library. While I once borrowed Bopearachchi’s Monnaies Gréco-Bactriennes et Indo-Grecques from the ANA, I recall it not being very user friendly (or perhaps it was that thinking in French takes a bit longer for me). Anyway, when CNG released volume 12 of their Handbook of Greek Coinage Series, which covers Bactria and Ancient India, I decided to purchase a copy to try out the series. While I will eventually give it a review in my book thread, I decided to have some fun reattributing and cataloguing some of my Indian coins. The catalogue provides the legends in translation, but also included a typed Kharosthi script for the reverse legends (the obverse is in Greek), which got me thinking about if I could recreate the legends in Unicode. And sure enough, codespace 10A00 through 10A50 is dedicated to Kharosthi! While it is difficult to make out the characters on my screen, I found a handy chart on omniglot.com which laid out the script with English sounding equivalents, and I was able to match up the Unicode: Although after putting in the work here, I found a similar and more comprehensive chart on Wikipedia. So with the new reference in hand, I was able to create some more accurate attributions for my Bactrian coins (although I admit that some of my Kharosthi letters may well be inaccurate - I am just a mere amateur in this realm!): Kingdom of Bactria Menander I r. c. 165/55-130 B.C. AE Light Chalkos, 13.13 x 13.34 mm x 2.3 grams Obv.: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΣΩΤΗΡΟΣ / ΜΕΝΑΝΔΡΟΥ. Elephant head right Rev.: / (Maharajasa tratarasa / Menamdrasa). Club, value mark A to right, monogram to left. Ref.: HGC 12-197, Bopearachchi 28E, SGCV 7616 And supposedly, my very sharp Menander I was giving a rarity of R3 in the catalogue (which means only “one or two examples are believed to be extant” according to the chart on pg. lxxxiii). I’m fairly certain this is incorrect, as I have seen other coins like mine, but the right facing diademed bust, coupled with the reverse monograph to the right of Athena (instead of to the left) was considered the rarer variety according to the text. Kingdom of Bactria Menander I r. c. 165/55-130 B.C. AR Drachm, 15.71mm x 2.5 grams Obv.: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΣΩΤΗΡΟΣ / ΜΕΝΑΝΔΡΟΥ (King Savior / Menander). Diademed bust of Menander right Rev.: / (Maharajasa tratarasa / Menamdrasa). Athena Promachos standing left brandishing thunderbolt and aegis, monogram right Ref.: HGC 12-192, Bopearachchi, Ménandre (I) Sôter, 67, pg. 233, plate 28 So this lead me down another idea. In my box of ‘to sell someday’ coins, I had an extra Menander that I received as part of a lot, and decided to compare the two. The second was missing the monogram to the right, but as I looked closer, the Kharosthi script on the reverse looked different. Much of the Greek script on the obverse is off-flan for the ruler’s name, but the Kharosthi script was quite clear - this wasn’t Menander, but Stranton I! Kingdom of Bactria Stranton I, c. 110-85 B.C. AR Drachm, 17.63 mm x 2.09 grams Obv.: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΣΩΤΗΡΟΣ ΔΙΚΑΙΟΥ / ΣΤΡΑΤΩΝΟΣ. Diademed bust of Straton I facing right Rev.: / (Maharajasa tratarasa dhramikasa Stratasa [of Great King Straton the Just Savior]). Athena Promachos standing left brandishing thunderbolt and shield, monogram to left Ref.: HGC 12-340, SGCV 7658 Apologies for the phone photo. I have resigned myself to not getting new coin photos taken until the school year is over. HGC also lists this coin as R3 (and I wouldn’t know any better, admittedly), but seeing as Stranton I is a ruler I did not have, this coin came out of the ‘to sell’ pile and has now joined my collection! Please feel free to post any Bactrian coins, or if there is anything else with Kharosthi, please share that too!
Here's a nice little archive you might find useful? https://archive.org/details/numismaticsinter11n1numi/page/12/mode/2up
Neat! Here's my only Bactrian: Hermaios and Calliope, 90-70 BC. Indo-Greek AR drachm, 16.2 mm, 1.80 gm. Obv: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΣΩΤΗΡΟΣ ΕΡΜΑΙΟΥ ΚΑΙ ΚΑΛΛΙΟΠΗΣ, jugate busts, right. Rev: Kharoshthi legend: maharajasa tratarasa heramayasa / kaliyapaya, king on rearing horse, right; monogram below. Refs: BMC India p. 66, 1-2; Sear 7739; Forrer 53; SNG ANS 1319-25; MIG (Mitchiner) 408b; Bopearachchi 2B.
I just have one with kharoshthi, courtesy of @John Anthony KUSHAN DYNASTY Vima Kadphises, 95-127 AD. AE Tetradrachm, 28mm, 16.5g, 2h. Obv. BACIΛEΥC BACIΛEωN OOHMO MEΓAC OOHM KAΔΦICHC; Kadphises, standing facing, head left, sacrificing over altar to left and holding hand on hilt; to left, filleted trident behind, tamgha and club to right. Rev: Siva with three heads standing facing, holding trident in raised right hand and resting lowered left hand on bull Nandi standing to right, behind; tamgha above to left.with kharoshthi legend maharaja rajadhiraja sarvaloga isvarasa mahesvarasa. Mitchner 3040
Wonderful coins and thanks for the heads up on a good Bactrian reference! I've been interested in these coins for a while but know so little. I'll be looking into cng12. Here are some of my better Bactrians:
The Kharosthi unicode fonts are part of Windows 10 thanks to Andrew Glass@microsoft. He wrote his thesis on Kharosthi. I have been transcribing some of the coins using the font and its great! Note that its NOT easy to come up with a proper font for Kharosthi, as its a complex script. The forum can't display them properly as it has a limited support for unicode. Here is an example using images as opposed to unicode: Indo-Scythian: Azes I (ca. 58-12 BCE) AR Drachm (Hoover-640; MACW-737a; Senior-76) Obv: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΝ ΜΕΓ ΑΛΟΥ ΑΖΟΥ; Diademed Zeus standing left holding scepter and making benediction gesture Rev: ; Nike standing right holding wreath and filleted palm branch. Monogram of Taxila to right Indo-Scythian: Azilizes (ca. 85-45/35 BCE) AR Tetradrachm (Senior 50.1T) Obv: BAΣIΛEΩΣ BAΣIΛEΩN MEΓAΛOY AZIΛIΣOY; King on horseback right, holding spear Rev: (Majarajasa rajarajasa mahatasa Ayalishasa); Athena standing left, holding shield with aegis and thunderbolt; monograms in fields
nice - thank you! I didn’t even notice that the script didn’t display in the forum (I posted then left to do something). Disappointing. Oh well - it will print on my tickets for the collection
Congrats on the discovery of Stranton I @FitzNigel it's always a great feeling when an ordinary coin turns out to be something special. I have a single Indo Greek coin. Menander I Soter AR Drachm 155-130 BC. 18mm, 2.46 g Obv: Diademed heroic bust left, seen from behind, wearing aegis and brandishing spear. Rev: Athena Alkedimos advancing left, holding shield and thunderbolt; monogram to right. Bopearachchi 7A I look forward to your book review as well.
Greco-Bactrian Kingdom, Hermaios Soter, circa 105-90 BC, AR tetradrachm, Posthumous Indo-Skythian imitation, uncertain mint in Gandhara, struck circa 55-45 BC Obv: Hermaios Soter diademed and draped bust right Rev: Zeus enthroned slightly left, holding scepter and raising hand in benediction; monogram to left, Kharoshthi letter to right Ref: Bopearachchi 14F Hermaios was the last Indo-Greek ruler of the Gandhara, and his coinage was imitated by the conquering Greater Yuezhi, a nomadic pastoralist society known for their horses. They came from western China and conquered Bactria ~140-125 BC. The Yuezhi transitioned from nomadic to sedentary, agricultural society as they expanded control, integrated diverse cultures and populations of the region and became the Kushan empire in the 1st century AD.
BAKTRIA Baktria Indo Greco-Baktrian Kingdom Eukratides I Megas 170-145 BCE Dioscuri AE Quadruple Unit Indo-Greek Baktria Menander I Soter BCE 155-130 AR Tet 26mm 9.6g Diad - Athena Alkidemos tbolt Gorgon shield SNG ANS 764-767 Baktria Apollodotos I 180-160 BCE Square AR Drachm 20mm 2.4g Elephant Zebu SNG ANS 324-327
Already quite some time ago, i wrote a short review on the Hoover book here: http://www.worldofcoins.eu/forum/index.php/topic,26417.0.html" Copper of one of the northern Satraps with the name of the ruler in Kharoshthi
I wonder if we can get the CoinTalk webmaster to allow Kharosthi unicode here? I had a similar Menander, and worked through putting the inscription into the computer. Results at https://digitalhn.blogspot.com/2020/05/kharosthi-coin-inscription-unicode.html . I can't paste the explanation here. You should be able to cut-and-paste that Unicode to your own browser and print flips with nice, typeset Kharosthi.
Indo-Skythian. Rajuvula. 25-15 BC, drachm, 2.36g, 13.6mm Kharoshthi legend around Chatrapasa Apratihatachakrasa Rujuvulasa (of Satrap Rajuvula of the Invincible Chakra) "Rujuvula was a Satrap of Chach, and later of Jammu, which he took from the Greeks. Later, after capturing Mathura, he assumed the title of Mahakshatrapa, which he held until his death in circa 1/10 AD." (according to Fishman. I haven't yet gone through the exercise of checking the various conflicting online sources). Richard Plant (Greek, Asiatic, Semetic coins: and how to read them p. 119) calls him Rajabula and says the obverse, Greek, inscription is "Razi, King of kings, savior". The reverse is Kharosthi APRaTIHaTaChaKRaSa "invincible with the discus" and ChhaTRaPaSa RaJaBULaSa "the Satrap Rajabula". I haven't taken the time yet to try to render the inscription in Unicode myself.
