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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Parthicus, post: 2897494, member: 81887&quot;]I won this coin a few weeks ago in the $15 &quot;bargain bin&quot; section of a John Anthony auction:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]697222[/ATTACH] </p><p>Indo-Greek Kingdom.&nbsp; Philoxenos (c. 100-95 BC).&nbsp; AE Square Unit (Hemi-obol?) (20x18mm, 7.8g).&nbsp; Obverse: Goddess (Demeter?) standing left, holding cornucopia, legend in Greek around &quot;Basileos Aniketou Philoxenou&quot; (Of the Invincible King, Philoxenos).&nbsp; Reverse: Humped bull (zebu) standing right, legend in Kharoshthi around &quot;Maharajasa apadihatasa Philasinasa&quot; (same as Greek legend).&nbsp; SNG ANS 1209, Mitchiner ACW 1960-1.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>Briefly, this coin exists because of Alexander the Great.&nbsp; Alexander&#039;s easternmost conquest was Bactria, a region very roughly equivalent to the core of modern Uzbekistan.&nbsp; After Alexander&#039;s death and the breakup of his empire, Bactria remained under the control of the Seleucids until about 250 BC, when it broke off as an independent kingdom under the control of a Greek king.&nbsp; The expanding Parthian kingdom soon left Bactria cut off from direct contact with the rest of the Greek world, although some indirect trade probably continued.&nbsp; In the second and first centuries BC, further Greek kingdoms broke off and spread south from Bactria, into what is now northern Pakistan and Afghanistan, in what is now referred to as the Indo-Greek kingdoms.&nbsp; There were multiple simultaneous kingdoms, and the chronology is poorly understood.&nbsp; The Indo-Greeks survived until the start of the first century AD, when the last kings were conquered by the expanding Indo-Scythians.</p><p><br /></p><p>Few historical documents have survived that explain Indo-Greek history; much of our knowledge is based on analysis of their coins.&nbsp; Philoxenos (whose name means &quot;lover of foreigners&quot;) seems to have ruled in the Punjab around 100-95 BC, although Robert Senior places him at c.125-110 BC.&nbsp; As usual, his coins portray a mix of Greek and Indian themes.&nbsp; The obverse uses the Greek language and a recognizably Greek-style goddess, while the reverse is inscribed in Kharoshthi script (used to write the Pali language) and shows a humped bull, a symbol of Shiva in the Hindu religion.&nbsp; It is not known if the kings remained ethnically Greek the whole time, or intermarried with the local population, but clearly they wanted to appeal to both Hellenistic and Indian populations.&nbsp; Square coins are common in the Indo-Greek series, mainly in the bronzes but also for some silver issues.&nbsp; This is hardly a gem coin but at $15, it was a good buy with plenty of historical interest, and I plan to look for some more cool Indo-Greek treasures.&nbsp; Please post your relevant coins.&nbsp; (I&#039;ll be disappointed if [USER=76194]@Sallent[/USER] doesn&#039;t post his elephant-zebu coin.)[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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