Roma Numismatics Ltd
E-Sale 99 7 Jul 2022
View prices realized
► Sale information
Find similar lots
Greco-Baktrian Kingdom, Eukratides II Soter AR Tetradrachm. Circa 145-140 BC. Diademed and draped bust to right / Apollo standing facing, head to left, holding arrow in right hand and grounded bow with left; BAΣIΛEΩΣ to right, EYKPATIΔOY and monogram to left. Bopearachchi 1A; Mitchiner 164A; SNG ANS 619-622; HGC 12, 161; Roma XXI, lot 353 (hammer: £7,000). 16.81g, 30mm, 12h.
Good Very Fine; attractively toned and featuring a distinctive, striking portrait. Extremely Rare; only two other examples on CoinArchives.
From the Neil Collection.
"As Eucratides (I) returned from India, he was killed on the way back by his son, whom he had associated to his rule, and who, without hiding his patricide, as if he didn't kill a father but an enemy, ran with his chariot over the blood of his father, and ordered the corpse to be left without a sepulture" Justin XLI,6.
It appears that Eukratides I 'Megas' (the Great) had at least three sons, namely Plato, Heliokles (II) and Eukratides (II). Historians typically point to the latter as the patricide mentioned by Justin above owing to the fact that, early during his own fleeting reign, Eukratides II adopted the title 'Soter' (Savior), which could allude to his 'rescuing' of the kingdom from his tyrannical father.
This theory seems highly plausible, as Eukratides II did not achieve anything militarily during his rule that might have earned him the title and, ironically enough, he was to be swiftly dethroned during the dynastic civil war which broke out as a result of his father's assassination.
Good Very Fine; attractively toned and featuring a distinctive, striking portrait. Extremely Rare; only two other examples on CoinArchives.
From the Neil Collection.
"As Eucratides (I) returned from India, he was killed on the way back by his son, whom he had associated to his rule, and who, without hiding his patricide, as if he didn't kill a father but an enemy, ran with his chariot over the blood of his father, and ordered the corpse to be left without a sepulture" Justin XLI,6.
It appears that Eukratides I 'Megas' (the Great) had at least three sons, namely Plato, Heliokles (II) and Eukratides (II). Historians typically point to the latter as the patricide mentioned by Justin above owing to the fact that, early during his own fleeting reign, Eukratides II adopted the title 'Soter' (Savior), which could allude to his 'rescuing' of the kingdom from his tyrannical father.
This theory seems highly plausible, as Eukratides II did not achieve anything militarily during his rule that might have earned him the title and, ironically enough, he was to be swiftly dethroned during the dynastic civil war which broke out as a result of his father's assassination.