Heritage World Coin Auctions
CICF Signature Sale 3046 14-15 April 2016
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GRECO-BACTRIAN KINGDOM. Diodotus I Soter as Satrap (ca. 255-230 BC). AV stater (18mm, 8.22 gm, 6h). In the name of Antiochus II. Mint A (Aï Khanoum or nearby), ca. 255-235 BC. Diademed head of Diodotus right / BAΣIΛEΩΣ ANTIOXOY, Zeus advancing left, brandishing thunderbolt and aegis, eagle at feet; wreath to left. HGC 12, 20. SC 630. Holt Series A, Group 8. Bopearachchi 1A. With a handsome portrait, pleasing surfaces, and devoid of the usual test cut. NGC Choice AU 4/5 - 4/5, Fine Style.The traditional attribution of this well-known type holds that it depicts Diodotus I, the first king of independent Bactria, but gives the name of the concurrent Seleucid King, Antiochus II Theos. Under this interpretation, the coin represents the Bactrian Kingdom's transition from being the largest and furthest-flung province of the Seleucid Kingdom to full independence under Diodotus, who later (after about 235 BC) struck coins naming himself as king, or Basileus. A more recent theory put forth by historian Jens Jakobsson in Numismatic Chronicle (2010) posits that "Antiochus Nicator" was an entirely different ruler of Bactria, probably a son of Diodotus I, who ruled concurrently with his father and brother Diodotus II, perhaps ca. 235-220 BC. However, Brian Kritt examines this theory in his new publication, "New Discoveries In Bactrian Numismatics" (CNG 8, 2015), and finds that many of the die links used to support the "Antiochus Nicator" theory are either false or incorrectly sequenced. Kritt concludes that the earlier attribution to Diodotus I is most likely correct.
Estimate: 6000-8500 USD
GRECO-BACTRIAN KINGDOM. Diodotus I Soter as Satrap (ca. 255-230 BC). AV stater (18mm, 8.22 gm, 6h). In the name of Antiochus II. Mint A (Aï Khanoum or nearby), ca. 255-235 BC. Diademed head of Diodotus right / BAΣIΛEΩΣ ANTIOXOY, Zeus advancing left, brandishing thunderbolt and aegis, eagle at feet; wreath to left. HGC 12, 20. SC 630. Holt Series A, Group 8. Bopearachchi 1A. With a handsome portrait, pleasing surfaces, and devoid of the usual test cut. NGC Choice AU 4/5 - 4/5, Fine Style.The traditional attribution of this well-known type holds that it depicts Diodotus I, the first king of independent Bactria, but gives the name of the concurrent Seleucid King, Antiochus II Theos. Under this interpretation, the coin represents the Bactrian Kingdom's transition from being the largest and furthest-flung province of the Seleucid Kingdom to full independence under Diodotus, who later (after about 235 BC) struck coins naming himself as king, or Basileus. A more recent theory put forth by historian Jens Jakobsson in Numismatic Chronicle (2010) posits that "Antiochus Nicator" was an entirely different ruler of Bactria, probably a son of Diodotus I, who ruled concurrently with his father and brother Diodotus II, perhaps ca. 235-220 BC. However, Brian Kritt examines this theory in his new publication, "New Discoveries In Bactrian Numismatics" (CNG 8, 2015), and finds that many of the die links used to support the "Antiochus Nicator" theory are either false or incorrectly sequenced. Kritt concludes that the earlier attribution to Diodotus I is most likely correct.
Estimate: 6000-8500 USD