Classical Numismatic Group, LLC
Triton XXV 11-12 Jan 2022
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BAKTRIA, Greco-Baktrian Kingdom. Agathokles Dikaios. Circa 185-175 BC. AR Tetradrachm (33mm, 16.94 g, 12h). Diademed and draped bust right / BAΣIΛEYΩΣ to right, AΓAΘOKΛEOYΣ to left, ΔIKAIOY in exergue, Zeus standing facing, holding scepter and figure of Hekate; who holds torch in each hand; monogram to inner left. Bopearachchi 1C = Aï Khanoum III 124; Bopearachchi & Rahman –; MPHB Series II, 105 (dies 16/52; SNG ANS 230 var. (monogram); MIG Type 137 (monogram unlisted); HGC 12, 81. Attractive find patina that is slightly worn on the highest points, areas of minor porosity, hairline die break on reverse. Superb EF. Removed from NGC encalpsulation 4276861-001, graded MS, Strike: 5/5, Surface: #/5, Fine Style. High relief portrait. Extremely rare with ΔIKAIOY in exergue.
From the Melinda Collection. Reportedly ex Menlo Park Collection, purchased from Frank Kovacs, November 1998.
Like many Greco-Baktrian and Indo-Greek rulers, Agathokles Dikaios ("the Just") is a near complete mystery to us in terms of his origins, rise to power and the extent of his realm. On his rare "pedigree" coinage he claims the previous Baktrian Kings Diodotos I, Euthydemos and Demetrios as his ancestors; however these were from rival houses, and Agathokles also claims kinship to Alexander the Great and an "Antiochos Nikator," possibly Antiochos II or III, to whom he almost certainly bore no blood relation. The evidence supports the conclusion that he was a usurper who seized control, or was appointed to rule, a portion of the vast, unwieldy kingdom along with his contemporaries Antimachos Theos, Panteleon and Apollodotos I, whose coins were struck in the same 20 year span in the early second century BC. Of his character we can deduce little aside from the personality hinted at by his extraordinary coin portraits, which depict a lean man with a head of tight, curly hair, a sharply pointed nose, compressed lips, and a bit of a mad gleam in his eye. Whatever his origins and personal qualities, his reign was cut short by the rise of Eukratides I "The Great," who seems to have suppressed his rivals and assumed full control of all Bactria in about 170 BC.
From the Melinda Collection. Reportedly ex Menlo Park Collection, purchased from Frank Kovacs, November 1998.
Like many Greco-Baktrian and Indo-Greek rulers, Agathokles Dikaios ("the Just") is a near complete mystery to us in terms of his origins, rise to power and the extent of his realm. On his rare "pedigree" coinage he claims the previous Baktrian Kings Diodotos I, Euthydemos and Demetrios as his ancestors; however these were from rival houses, and Agathokles also claims kinship to Alexander the Great and an "Antiochos Nikator," possibly Antiochos II or III, to whom he almost certainly bore no blood relation. The evidence supports the conclusion that he was a usurper who seized control, or was appointed to rule, a portion of the vast, unwieldy kingdom along with his contemporaries Antimachos Theos, Panteleon and Apollodotos I, whose coins were struck in the same 20 year span in the early second century BC. Of his character we can deduce little aside from the personality hinted at by his extraordinary coin portraits, which depict a lean man with a head of tight, curly hair, a sharply pointed nose, compressed lips, and a bit of a mad gleam in his eye. Whatever his origins and personal qualities, his reign was cut short by the rise of Eukratides I "The Great," who seems to have suppressed his rivals and assumed full control of all Bactria in about 170 BC.