Roma Numismatics Ltd
E-Sale 103 24 Nov 2022
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Baktria, Sophytes AR Obol. Uncertain mint in the Oxus region, circa 246/5-235 BC. Attic standard. Head of Sophytes to right, wearing laureate crested Attic helmet / Cockerel standing to right; kerykeion behind, ΣΟΦ[YΤΟΥ] to right. Bopearachchi, Sophytes Series 3A; SNG ANS 26 corr. (denomination); Mitchiner 32; HGC 12, 17. 0.56g, 8mm, 6h.
Good Very Fine. Extremely Rare; only a handful on CoinArchives.
The question of who Sophytes was and when he lived is one that has confounded numismatists for a hundred and fifty one years. It should be quite clear to anyone reading this that the Sophytes of this coinage was not the Sopeithes described in classical sources as the ruler in the Punjab region between the Hydraotes and the Hyphasis who so impressed Alexander. We can say with certainty only that he was evidently Indo-Iranian by ethnicity, for Sophytes is the Hellenisation of a non-Greek name, and that he must have commanded an important region or city, most likely within Baktria, in the vicinity of the Oxus river.
Though little (if any) attention has been paid to the choice of the cockerel as the reverse type, it is when considered properly, thoroughly Baktrian in character. The cockerel was a most sacred animal in Zoroastrian religion; besides its common name 'Halka' and its onomatopoeic name 'Kahrkatas', it was also referred to by a religious name, 'Parodarsh' - literally, 'foreseer' (of the dawn). It was the bird of light and hence of righteousness, scattering the darkness and the evil that dwells within.
Good Very Fine. Extremely Rare; only a handful on CoinArchives.
The question of who Sophytes was and when he lived is one that has confounded numismatists for a hundred and fifty one years. It should be quite clear to anyone reading this that the Sophytes of this coinage was not the Sopeithes described in classical sources as the ruler in the Punjab region between the Hydraotes and the Hyphasis who so impressed Alexander. We can say with certainty only that he was evidently Indo-Iranian by ethnicity, for Sophytes is the Hellenisation of a non-Greek name, and that he must have commanded an important region or city, most likely within Baktria, in the vicinity of the Oxus river.
Though little (if any) attention has been paid to the choice of the cockerel as the reverse type, it is when considered properly, thoroughly Baktrian in character. The cockerel was a most sacred animal in Zoroastrian religion; besides its common name 'Halka' and its onomatopoeic name 'Kahrkatas', it was also referred to by a religious name, 'Parodarsh' - literally, 'foreseer' (of the dawn). It was the bird of light and hence of righteousness, scattering the darkness and the evil that dwells within.