Watch List notes:

BAKTRIA, Indo-Greek Kingdom. Philoxenos Aniketos. Circa 125-110 BC. AR Tetradrachm (27mm, 9.88 g, 12h). Diademed heroic bust left, wearing crested helmet covered with pelt of scales and adorned with trace of Gorgon's head and wing, aegis, and brandishing spear in right hand / Philoxenos, in military attire, on horse rearing right on ground line; Σ below, monogram to upper left. Bopearachchi 9C; HGC 12, –. A few light cleaning scratches, minor die breaks. Good VF. Extremely rare with the helmet adorned with the Gorgon head and wing.

Like most Indo-Greek rulers, Philoxenos "The Invincible" is unknown to history aside from his coinage. He struck extremely rare coins on the Attic standard and a much larger bilingual issue on the reduced Indian standard; these are found primarily in the Punjab and Gandhara, where his reign seems to have been centered. The scarcity of his coinage indicates his reign must have been of brief to moderate duration. Bopearachchi dates his reign to circa 100-95 BC; Oliver Hoover in HGC 9 dates it somewhat earlier, 125-110 BC. The obverse of this rare issue is clearly modeled on the great "heroic bust" tetradrachms of Eukratides, but with some innovations, including the elaborate aegis over his lead shoulder and the decorations on his helmet, which repeat the aegis motif.