Heritage World Coin Auctions
NYINC Signature Sale 3051 8-9 January 2017
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Ancients
INDO-GREEK KINGDOMS. Philoxenus Aniketos (ca. 125-110 BC). AR Indic tetradrachm (28mm, 9.80 gm, 12h). MGC MS 5/5 - 4/5. BAΣIΛEΩΣ ANIKHTΟΥ ΦIΛOΞENOY, diademed, draped and cuirassed bust of Philoxenus right, wearing crested and horned Bactrian helmet / Maharasha apadihatasa Philasinasa in Karosthi script, Philoxenus in cavalry armor galloping right on horseback, holding couched spear, monogram below. HGC 12, 268. Bopearachchi 5C. SNG ANS 1183-6. Deeply struck on a broad flan and lustrous, an exceptional specimen!
Like most Indo-Greek rulers following Menander, whose reign ended circa 130 BC, Philoxenus "The Invincible" is an enigma wrapped in a mystery. His rare coinage is found primarily in the Punjab, where his reign seems to have been centered. His reverse type echoes ones used on coins of Antimachus II as much as six decades earlier, which may point to a dynastic connection with the earlier ruler. The scarcity of his coinage indicates his reign must have been relatively brief. Bopearachchi initially dated his reign to circa 100-95 BC; more recent scholarship points to about 25 years earlier. The obverse of this rare issue is clearly modeled on the dramatic helmeted bust tetradrachms of Eucratides, king of Greco-Bactria circa 170-145 BC.
Estimate: 2000-2600 USD
INDO-GREEK KINGDOMS. Philoxenus Aniketos (ca. 125-110 BC). AR Indic tetradrachm (28mm, 9.80 gm, 12h). MGC MS 5/5 - 4/5. BAΣIΛEΩΣ ANIKHTΟΥ ΦIΛOΞENOY, diademed, draped and cuirassed bust of Philoxenus right, wearing crested and horned Bactrian helmet / Maharasha apadihatasa Philasinasa in Karosthi script, Philoxenus in cavalry armor galloping right on horseback, holding couched spear, monogram below. HGC 12, 268. Bopearachchi 5C. SNG ANS 1183-6. Deeply struck on a broad flan and lustrous, an exceptional specimen!
Like most Indo-Greek rulers following Menander, whose reign ended circa 130 BC, Philoxenus "The Invincible" is an enigma wrapped in a mystery. His rare coinage is found primarily in the Punjab, where his reign seems to have been centered. His reverse type echoes ones used on coins of Antimachus II as much as six decades earlier, which may point to a dynastic connection with the earlier ruler. The scarcity of his coinage indicates his reign must have been relatively brief. Bopearachchi initially dated his reign to circa 100-95 BC; more recent scholarship points to about 25 years earlier. The obverse of this rare issue is clearly modeled on the dramatic helmeted bust tetradrachms of Eucratides, king of Greco-Bactria circa 170-145 BC.
Estimate: 2000-2600 USD