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Lot 416
BAKTRIA, Greco-Baktrian Kingdom. Agathokles Dikaios. Circa 185-175 BC. AR Tetradrachm (33mm, 15.70 g, 12h). Commemorative issue struck for Alexander III of Macedon. VF.
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Live Auction
Triton XXVIII
Live bidding began Jan 14, 2025 at 9:00 AM EST
Category
Description
BAKTRIA, Greco-Baktrian Kingdom. Agathokles Dikaios. Circa 185-175 BC. AR Tetradrachm (33mm, 15.70 g, 12h). Commemorative issue struck for Alexander III of Macedon. AΛEΞANΔ[POY] to right, TOY ΦIΛΛIΠOY to left, head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin / BAΣIΛEONTOS to right, AΓAΘOKΛEOYΣ to left; ΔIKAIOY in exergue, Zeus Aëtophoros enthroned left; monogram to inner left. MPHB Series III, 113 (O18/R57); Bopearachchi 12B; Bopearachchi & Rahman 163 (same dies); MIG type 142 var. (unlisted monogram); SNG ANS –; HGC 12, 83; Triton XI, lot 358 (same dies); Triton VIII, lot 633 (same dies). Lightly toned, edge deposit, die rust and horn silver, slight doubling, cleaning marks. VF. Extremely rare.
The "pedigree" coins issued by Agathokles copy the coin types of his predecessors, with the predecessor's name and cult epithet on the obverse, and Agathokles' name and titles on the reverse. Agathokles' intent was clearly to advertise the line of succession from Alexander the Great to himself, presumably as an aspect of his civil war propaganda. The commemorative coins in the name of Alexander the Great are of particular importance to the interpretation of this series, because the first specimen, published in 1881, definitively disproved earlier speculations that all the kings were contemporaries (A. von Sallet, "Alexander der Grosse als Gründer der baktrischen-indischen Reiche," ZfN VIII [1881], pp. 279-80). It is perhaps significant that Alexander alone, of all the kings portrayed in this series, does not have a cult epithet but is merely characterized as "the son of Philip."
The final winners of all Triton XXVIII lots will be determined at the live public sale that will be held on 14-15 January 2025.
Triton XXVIII – Session Two – Lot 288–557 will be held Tuesday afternoon, 14 January 2025 beginning at 2:00 PM ET.
Winning bids are subject to a 22.5% buyer's fee for bids placed on this website and 25% for all others.
We recognize that our users may have various Internet Browsers and Operating Systems. We like our visitors to have the best possible experience when using our bidding platform. However, we do recognize that it is impossible to develop applications that work identically, efficiently and effectively on all web browsers. The CNG bidding platform supports the latest stable major version and stable previous version of Chrome and Firefox.
The "pedigree" coins issued by Agathokles copy the coin types of his predecessors, with the predecessor's name and cult epithet on the obverse, and Agathokles' name and titles on the reverse. Agathokles' intent was clearly to advertise the line of succession from Alexander the Great to himself, presumably as an aspect of his civil war propaganda. The commemorative coins in the name of Alexander the Great are of particular importance to the interpretation of this series, because the first specimen, published in 1881, definitively disproved earlier speculations that all the kings were contemporaries (A. von Sallet, "Alexander der Grosse als Gründer der baktrischen-indischen Reiche," ZfN VIII [1881], pp. 279-80). It is perhaps significant that Alexander alone, of all the kings portrayed in this series, does not have a cult epithet but is merely characterized as "the son of Philip."
The final winners of all Triton XXVIII lots will be determined at the live public sale that will be held on 14-15 January 2025.
Triton XXVIII – Session Two – Lot 288–557 will be held Tuesday afternoon, 14 January 2025 beginning at 2:00 PM ET.
Winning bids are subject to a 22.5% buyer's fee for bids placed on this website and 25% for all others.
We recognize that our users may have various Internet Browsers and Operating Systems. We like our visitors to have the best possible experience when using our bidding platform. However, we do recognize that it is impossible to develop applications that work identically, efficiently and effectively on all web browsers. The CNG bidding platform supports the latest stable major version and stable previous version of Chrome and Firefox.
