Heritage World Coin Auctions
NYINC Signature Sale 3061 7-8 Jan 2018
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GRECO-BACTRIAN KINGDOM. Demetrius I (ca. 200-185 BC). AR tetradrachm (33mm, 16.63 gm, 11h). NGC Choice XF 4/5 - 3/5, Fine Style. Diademed and draped bust of Demetrius right, wearing headdress composed of elephant's head, ears, trunk and tusks / BAΣIΛEΩΣ ΔHMHTPIOY, Heracles standing facing, crowning himself with wreath held in right hand and cradling club in left arm draped with lion skin; monogram to inner left. Bopearachchi Série 1F. SNG ANS 192. An impressive piece, struck from dies of pleasing style and attractively toned.
The unusual elephant headdress worn by Demetrius on this tetradrachm recalls the similar headgear sported by Alexander the Great on early coins of Ptolemaic Egypt, referring to his conquests in northern India. Demetrius also campaigned in India while serving a long apprenticeship under his father, Euthydemus I, as recorded on a dedicatory stone recently discovered north of Ai Khanoum in Afghanistan. After succeeding to the throne, he launched an invasion of Northern India that extended Greek control into modern Pakistan. The historian Strabo claims "more tribes were subdued by [Demetrius] than Alexander."
HID02901242017
Estimate: 1000-1200 USD
GRECO-BACTRIAN KINGDOM. Demetrius I (ca. 200-185 BC). AR tetradrachm (33mm, 16.63 gm, 11h). NGC Choice XF 4/5 - 3/5, Fine Style. Diademed and draped bust of Demetrius right, wearing headdress composed of elephant's head, ears, trunk and tusks / BAΣIΛEΩΣ ΔHMHTPIOY, Heracles standing facing, crowning himself with wreath held in right hand and cradling club in left arm draped with lion skin; monogram to inner left. Bopearachchi Série 1F. SNG ANS 192. An impressive piece, struck from dies of pleasing style and attractively toned.
The unusual elephant headdress worn by Demetrius on this tetradrachm recalls the similar headgear sported by Alexander the Great on early coins of Ptolemaic Egypt, referring to his conquests in northern India. Demetrius also campaigned in India while serving a long apprenticeship under his father, Euthydemus I, as recorded on a dedicatory stone recently discovered north of Ai Khanoum in Afghanistan. After succeeding to the throne, he launched an invasion of Northern India that extended Greek control into modern Pakistan. The historian Strabo claims "more tribes were subdued by [Demetrius] than Alexander."
HID02901242017
Estimate: 1000-1200 USD