Heritage World Coin Auctions
NYINC Signature Sale 3037 Sess. 2-4 5 January 2015
View prices realized
► Sale information
Find similar lots
Ancients
GRECO-BACTRIAN KINGDOM. Eucratides I the Great (ca. 170-145 BC). AR tetradrachm (34mm, 16.91 gm, 11h). Diademed, draped, and cuirassed bust right, wearing crested Bactrian helmet adorned with bull's horn and ear / ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΜΕΓΑΛΟY ΕΥΚΡΑΤΙΔΟΥ, the Dioscuri on rearing horses right, each holding palm branch and wearing pileus, monogram before. Bopearachchi Série 6X. SNG ANS 472. Incredible high-relief strike, beautiful surfaces. NGC MS★ 5/5 - 4/5.From The California Collection.Of the immense Greco-Bactrian kingdom's rulers, we have only a handful of written accounts totalling about 500 words, along with the intriguing and often puzzling glimpses provided by the coinage of the realm. From the latter we can deduce that Eucratides, who reigned for about 25 years starting about 171 BC, arose from obscure origins to become the most powerful of all Greco-Bactrian kings, displacing several other claimants over a span of about 10 years. This magnificent piece depicts Eucratides as a general wearing a broad-brimmed helmet, greatly resembling a modern-day British explorer in a pith helmet. The portrait, rendered in sculptural high relief, is nearly photographic in its realism and exemplifies the virtuosity achieved by the artisans of this far-flung Greek enclave. On the reverse he gives himself the total Megalos, "Greatest," recalling both the deified Alexander and the title "Great King" born by the Achaemenid Persian monarchs.
Estimate: 3000-4000 USD
GRECO-BACTRIAN KINGDOM. Eucratides I the Great (ca. 170-145 BC). AR tetradrachm (34mm, 16.91 gm, 11h). Diademed, draped, and cuirassed bust right, wearing crested Bactrian helmet adorned with bull's horn and ear / ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΜΕΓΑΛΟY ΕΥΚΡΑΤΙΔΟΥ, the Dioscuri on rearing horses right, each holding palm branch and wearing pileus, monogram before. Bopearachchi Série 6X. SNG ANS 472. Incredible high-relief strike, beautiful surfaces. NGC MS★ 5/5 - 4/5.From The California Collection.Of the immense Greco-Bactrian kingdom's rulers, we have only a handful of written accounts totalling about 500 words, along with the intriguing and often puzzling glimpses provided by the coinage of the realm. From the latter we can deduce that Eucratides, who reigned for about 25 years starting about 171 BC, arose from obscure origins to become the most powerful of all Greco-Bactrian kings, displacing several other claimants over a span of about 10 years. This magnificent piece depicts Eucratides as a general wearing a broad-brimmed helmet, greatly resembling a modern-day British explorer in a pith helmet. The portrait, rendered in sculptural high relief, is nearly photographic in its realism and exemplifies the virtuosity achieved by the artisans of this far-flung Greek enclave. On the reverse he gives himself the total Megalos, "Greatest," recalling both the deified Alexander and the title "Great King" born by the Achaemenid Persian monarchs.
Estimate: 3000-4000 USD