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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;medoraman, post: 4576177, member: 26302&quot;]As many of you know, I collect many Central Asian coins. I like coins from the Persian empire, (Achaemenids, Parthians, Sassanians). I also love Sogdian pieces, (which include a variety of cultures like Yeuh Chi, Huns, Chinese, etc), as well as all Hunnic and Kushan. </p><p><br /></p><p>I had seen some early pieces in the last year or two in Roma auctions. I never thought too much about them, but did pick this one up recently at another auction:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1132979[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1132980[/ATTACH] </p><p>BACTRIA: AR didrachm (7.88g), ca 329-323 BC, Mitchiner-24b, Nicolet-Pierre &amp; Amandry-47, 48 (this piece), struck under Macedonian satrap, helmeted head of Athena right, monogram behind // owl standing right, head facing, AΘE, prow of galley above grape bunch behind, some roughness, a well-struck example with dark iridescent toning, VF to EF.</p><p><br /></p><p>Once I bought it, (I do this a lot), I researched it more. I bought it because it is very unusual having the entirety of the design on the coin. Given how they are laid out, usually some of it is off the coin. Anyway, isn&#039;t this effectively the very first coins ever struck in this area of the world? Some are attributed to Sophytes, a local ruler who surrendered to Alexander, while others attribute them to a Macedonian Satrap. There are two main types, these imitating Owls and another with a head in a Macedonian helmet and a rooster on the reverse. </p><p><br /></p><p>Luckily I bought it, since the more I think about it, the more I need to own it. My questions are:</p><p><br /></p><p>1. Is this the very first struck coins in this area of the world? </p><p>2. Are researchers firm on which coins came first, the owls or the helmeted head/rooster? </p><p>3. What is the latest thinking on how the &quot;Sophytes&quot; coins fit into this chronology? There are coins bearing his name. Are they before these &quot;Macedonian Satrapal&quot; coins?</p><p>4. Anyone have any idea, why a massively landlocked area of the world like Bactria would put a prow of a Greek warship on a coin?</p><p><br /></p><p>I know [USER=86498]@Terence Cheesman[/USER] posted a tet of these last year.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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