The New York Sale
Auction 57 10 Jan 2023
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Kingdom of Baktria. Plato Epiphanes, ca. 145-140 BC. Silver Tetradrachm (16.92 g). Diademed and draped bust right, wearing a crested helmet adorned with a bull's horn and ear. Reverse; BAΣIΛEΩΣ EΠIΦANOYE ΠΛATΩΣNO, Radiate Helios standing facing in a quadriga galloping right, MT monogram upper inner right, MZ in ex. Bopearachchi 3 A, SNG ANS 631, Mitchiner 197, Qunduz 381, HGC 12, 167. Extremely rare and one of less than a handful of examples to appear in the market during the past 25 years. Slight double striking on reverse and virtually as struck. Sound metal, untoned and lusterous. Extremely Fine. Estimated Value $20,000 - UP
Little is known about Plato nor his rise to power other than he emerged as king at some point soon after the murder of Eukratides I. Overthrowing the Euthydemid dynasty, Eukratides restored the Diodotids to power. His extensive and prestigious coinage suggests that his reign was quite prosperous and of notable import, while his military prowess expanded the borders of the Graeco-Baktrian realm as far as western India to the city of Broach in Gujarat. In 145 BC, Eukratides, on his way home from campaigning in India, was murdered at the hands of his son according to the historian Justin. His body was mutilated and dragged behind a chariot. Justin may have erred in the perpetrator as the Euthydemid prince Demetrios II may have been behind the regicide, but whoever the murderer was, the act plunged the Graeco-Baktrian realm into a terrible civil war which heralded its ultimate demise. The Indian territories were lost to the Indo-Greek king Menander, the nomadic Yuezhi invasion grew more successful, while Aï Khanoum was sacked and burnt to the ground. Amid this chaos, Plato somehow took the throne. Given his middle-age appearance on his coins, it is believed that he may have been Eukratides' brother. His kingdom seems to have been largely confined to the lands around the city of Balkh, where all of his coins appear to have been issued.
Little is known about Plato nor his rise to power other than he emerged as king at some point soon after the murder of Eukratides I. Overthrowing the Euthydemid dynasty, Eukratides restored the Diodotids to power. His extensive and prestigious coinage suggests that his reign was quite prosperous and of notable import, while his military prowess expanded the borders of the Graeco-Baktrian realm as far as western India to the city of Broach in Gujarat. In 145 BC, Eukratides, on his way home from campaigning in India, was murdered at the hands of his son according to the historian Justin. His body was mutilated and dragged behind a chariot. Justin may have erred in the perpetrator as the Euthydemid prince Demetrios II may have been behind the regicide, but whoever the murderer was, the act plunged the Graeco-Baktrian realm into a terrible civil war which heralded its ultimate demise. The Indian territories were lost to the Indo-Greek king Menander, the nomadic Yuezhi invasion grew more successful, while Aï Khanoum was sacked and burnt to the ground. Amid this chaos, Plato somehow took the throne. Given his middle-age appearance on his coins, it is believed that he may have been Eukratides' brother. His kingdom seems to have been largely confined to the lands around the city of Balkh, where all of his coins appear to have been issued.