Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XXV 22-23 Sep 2022
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Greco-Baktrian Kingdom, Eukratides I Megas AR Pentadrachm. Circa 171-145 BC. Attic standard. Diademed and draped bust to right / The Dioskouroi on horses prancing to right, each holding spear and palm; ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ above, ΕΥΚΡΑΤΙΔΟΥ below, E (mark of value) in left field, monogram in
lower right field. Unpublished. 21.14g, 34mm, 12h.
Good Extremely Fine; a bold portrait, beautiful light cabinet tone with golden iridescence around the devices. Unique, of considerable numismatic and historical importance, and the only definitive pentadrachm known to have ever been produced.
This incredible novum with an unambiguous denominational mark E (=5) immediately invites comparison to the Eukratidion, the 20 stater gold coin preserved in the Cabinet des Médailles in Paris (cf. Bopearachchi Série 4; HGC 12, 128), and like the Eukratidion it seems almost certain to have played a ceremonial role rather than a functionally monetary one. Yet it is also unlike that 'numismatic monster' as it has been called, in that it was evidently produced very early, possibly even at the outset of Eukratides' reign before he had earned for himself the title of 'Megas'. It is struck from a reverse die that displays very careful consideration of geometry, symmetry and balance; it is in short a reverse die of extraordinarily accomplished style.
One need look no further than the leftmost Dioskouros to understand the enormous difference between this die and those employed for the vast number of tetradrachms. Yet further observation will draw the viewer's attention to the exceedingly well-balanced symmetry and geometry of the design, with the Dioskouroi centrally placed between the two lines of uncommonly neat parallel legend of equal length, the tail of one acting as a counterweight to the lance and hoofs of the other, with monogram and mark of value equipoised in lower right and upper left quadrants.
The employment of the denominational mark E on this coin has allowed for identification of similar denominational marks of Δ (=4) and A (=1) on other early issues of Eukratides (see successive lots).
The only other supposed issue of the silver πεντάδραχμον or five drachma coin is the very rare issue in the name of Berenike II, sister/wife of Ptolemy III in c. 244/3-221 BC (CPE 742; Svoronos 989), which has been described as Attic weight (ideally 21.5g), but which are problematically typically lighter at around 19.4 grams on average. Though nobody has seriously questioned the type's attribution as a pentadrachm, the denomination is far from certain. Firstly, the Ptolemaic weight standard at that time was based on a tetradrachm of 14.2g (the Attic standard having been discontinued decades earlier), and the heavier immediate counterpart to the issue (Svoronos 988) is now generally referred to as a Ptolemaic-standard 'pentakaidekadrachm'. If one accepts the latter, it becomes very hard to support the attribution of Svoronos 989 as a completely anomalous Attic-weight pentadrachm. 'Pentedrachmia' were mentioned by Xenophon (Hellenica 1.6.12) in the context of payments made to soldiers at Chios in 406 BC, but no such coins are now extant and scholars believe he was not referring to a singular coin. (W. E. Thompson, 'Gold and Silver Ratios at Athens during the Fifth Century', The Numismatic Chronicle 4 (1964), p.121, cf. Gardner, A History of Ancient Coinage, 700-300 BC (1918), p.250ff.)
According to Pollyx's Onomasticon there was a coin denominated pentadrachm at Kyrene and in the Delphic inscriptions such a denomination was referenced for the time of Alexander III, but these are also unknown and presumed to refer to calculations based on lighter Asian standards or gold issues based on the drachm as the unit of weight from which it originally evolved. Polyaenus in Stratagems also informs us that Timotheos debased metal when campaigning in northern Greece in 364 BC and contrasted these coins with so-called 'old pentadrachms', probably an erroneous assumption made on calculating the lighter weight issues introduced by Archelaos (HGC 3.1, 794-5) in 413-399 BC.
lower right field. Unpublished. 21.14g, 34mm, 12h.
Good Extremely Fine; a bold portrait, beautiful light cabinet tone with golden iridescence around the devices. Unique, of considerable numismatic and historical importance, and the only definitive pentadrachm known to have ever been produced.
This incredible novum with an unambiguous denominational mark E (=5) immediately invites comparison to the Eukratidion, the 20 stater gold coin preserved in the Cabinet des Médailles in Paris (cf. Bopearachchi Série 4; HGC 12, 128), and like the Eukratidion it seems almost certain to have played a ceremonial role rather than a functionally monetary one. Yet it is also unlike that 'numismatic monster' as it has been called, in that it was evidently produced very early, possibly even at the outset of Eukratides' reign before he had earned for himself the title of 'Megas'. It is struck from a reverse die that displays very careful consideration of geometry, symmetry and balance; it is in short a reverse die of extraordinarily accomplished style.
One need look no further than the leftmost Dioskouros to understand the enormous difference between this die and those employed for the vast number of tetradrachms. Yet further observation will draw the viewer's attention to the exceedingly well-balanced symmetry and geometry of the design, with the Dioskouroi centrally placed between the two lines of uncommonly neat parallel legend of equal length, the tail of one acting as a counterweight to the lance and hoofs of the other, with monogram and mark of value equipoised in lower right and upper left quadrants.
The employment of the denominational mark E on this coin has allowed for identification of similar denominational marks of Δ (=4) and A (=1) on other early issues of Eukratides (see successive lots).
The only other supposed issue of the silver πεντάδραχμον or five drachma coin is the very rare issue in the name of Berenike II, sister/wife of Ptolemy III in c. 244/3-221 BC (CPE 742; Svoronos 989), which has been described as Attic weight (ideally 21.5g), but which are problematically typically lighter at around 19.4 grams on average. Though nobody has seriously questioned the type's attribution as a pentadrachm, the denomination is far from certain. Firstly, the Ptolemaic weight standard at that time was based on a tetradrachm of 14.2g (the Attic standard having been discontinued decades earlier), and the heavier immediate counterpart to the issue (Svoronos 988) is now generally referred to as a Ptolemaic-standard 'pentakaidekadrachm'. If one accepts the latter, it becomes very hard to support the attribution of Svoronos 989 as a completely anomalous Attic-weight pentadrachm. 'Pentedrachmia' were mentioned by Xenophon (Hellenica 1.6.12) in the context of payments made to soldiers at Chios in 406 BC, but no such coins are now extant and scholars believe he was not referring to a singular coin. (W. E. Thompson, 'Gold and Silver Ratios at Athens during the Fifth Century', The Numismatic Chronicle 4 (1964), p.121, cf. Gardner, A History of Ancient Coinage, 700-300 BC (1918), p.250ff.)
According to Pollyx's Onomasticon there was a coin denominated pentadrachm at Kyrene and in the Delphic inscriptions such a denomination was referenced for the time of Alexander III, but these are also unknown and presumed to refer to calculations based on lighter Asian standards or gold issues based on the drachm as the unit of weight from which it originally evolved. Polyaenus in Stratagems also informs us that Timotheos debased metal when campaigning in northern Greece in 364 BC and contrasted these coins with so-called 'old pentadrachms', probably an erroneous assumption made on calculating the lighter weight issues introduced by Archelaos (HGC 3.1, 794-5) in 413-399 BC.