As much as I love Roman and Greek coins, I cannot resist the mystique that surrounds most non-classical coins. I finally sprung for a little set of this mysterious ruler, who is not attested beyond his relatively scarce coinage. Soghdia, Bukhara (Uzbekistan) C. 150 BC - 100 AD? King Hyrcodes (AKA Hirkod, Hircod etc) These silver coins are all found in the area of Bukhara in modern Uzbekistan, formerly a major post on the Silk Road. There is no doubt that these coins drew heavily from the Bactrian Greeks, and the use of Greek (rather than Bactrian) probably dates them to before the zenith of the Kushan empire. Ethnically, Hyrcodes was probably either Scythian or Yueh-chi. His coinage is comprised of two or three denominations with enough spread to infer that they were made over decades or centuries at various stages of a shifting weight standard. First up, a possibly lifetime "drachm" 15mm, 2.68g Obv: Portrait right, YPKωΔOY behind Rev: Soldier/deity standing, wearing heavy coat, holding spear and hand on hips, flames on shoulders, badly garbled Greek legends A later, probably posthumous drachm or hemidrachm 15mm, 1.05g Obv: Portrait right, no legend Rev: Soldier/deity standing, wearing heavy coat, holding spear and hand on hips, flames on shoulders, badly garbled Greek legends Finally, a different reverse type featuring the protome of a horse. These come with reverse inscriptions in either Greek or Aramaic/Sogdian AR "obol" 11mm, 0.66g Obv: Bust of king right, (YP)KωΔ behind (Hirkod) Rev: Forepart of horse, uncertain Greek legend around (probably YPKωΔ again) Feel free to post any examples you have!
I don't have a Hyrcodes (though I would like one!), but I do have an issue from nearby Samarkand from roughly the same period: It's clearly a descendant of imitations of Seleukid models, but it's unclear how early it is. If very early (e.g. 200 BCE) it's probably a Saka issue before they migrated south into India. If later it could be Yuezhi or another nomadic tribe, e.g. Kangju. (The horse depiction suggests it is some steppe people or other.) Here's a later (c. 300?) Sogdian issue possibly related to yours: The legend is in Sogdian and as far as I know hasn't been deciphered.
Here is one of the middle style, of the denomination you are calling hemidrachm. Bukharian Soghd, Hircod or Hyrcodes, AR 0.78g, 12mm, 100 BC-300 AD? Obv: [Y]PKωΔ[OY]; Bust Rev: Uncertain inscription; Soldier Ref: Sergeev, Barbarian Coins on the Territory between the Balkans and Central Asia #686 “Girkod / mid-1st century AD” The date range I got from Konstantin Kravtsov at the Hermitage museum who is studying this series. This example is later and less realistic than your first example. It has what looks like a die break on the nose but it is believed to depict a scar on the face of the ruler.
Nice coins @Severus Alexander and @Ed Snible ! I'd be really curious to know what sort of context these things are found in; e.g. mixed with later Seleucid coins? Roman denarii? Indo-Greek? Or maybe they have only ever been found individually or in small groups of the same type? I would imagine that would be the best way to ascertain at least a better timeframe. It must be mentioned that Hyrcodes bears an uncanny resemblance to the Kushan/Yueh-chi king "Heraios": The little scyphate pieces are even less mysterious, and aside from some stylistic parallels, seem to come more directly from Seleucid coinage, as the earliest iterations bear the legend BASILEWS ANTIOXOY. I do have a few later types: Their style and fabric I feel would be easier to accept as a product of very late antiquity or even the early medieval period.
I agree. Here's a thought I had recently. A. D. H. Bivar says, “According to the Chinese chronicle, the Hou han-shu, the territory gained by the Yuezhi in Bactria was divided between five tribal or regional chiefs (hi-hou), those of Hiu-mi, Shuang-mi, Kuei-shang, Hi-tun, and Tu-mi.” Possibly hi-hou = HIAOUY, i.e. it's a title rather than a name? It's a bit of a stretch, but could "YPKωΔOY" be an alternate transliteration of the same title? Joe Cribb has argued that Heraios was in fact Kujula Kadphises, and it's well known that Kujula issued coins in multiple styles. I'm not sure about the identification, but it seems plausible to me that a proto-Kushan chief or chiefs produced the earlier types above.
Here is another example of the type. I believe these are dated to 300-500 AD according the latest/based opinion. Unfortunately most of the hoards are discussed only in Russian-language publications. Aleksandr Naymark had a paper in the Journal of the Oriental Numismatic Society on the related bronze/"horsehead" coinage which discusses the time period proposed for the archer coinage. You can read it at https://www.academia.edu/12413681/_...iental_Numismatic_Society_no._208_Summer_2011 . He has since revised his views somewhat, but I haven't seen his new views in print yet. Hycodes also looks a bit like some of the portraits of Rajuvula. I think it is the moustache. Collectors of Hellenistic and Roman material are not used to portraits with long moustaches.
