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Lot 425
BAKTRIA, Indo-Greek Kingdom. Menander I Soter. Circa 155-130 BC. AV Stater (20mm, 8.46 g, 11h). Near EF.
Estimate:
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Starting Bid: $30,000
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Est.
$50,000
Starting Bid: $30,000
Live Auction
Triton XXVIII
Live bidding began Jan 14, 2025 at 9:00 AM EST
Category
Description
BAKTRIA, Indo-Greek Kingdom. Menander I Soter. Circa 155-130 BC. AV Stater (20mm, 8.46 g, 11h). Draped bust of Athena right, wearing crested helmet adorned with wing; all within bead-and-reel border / Owl standing right on ground line, head facing; A to left; all within bead-and-reel border. Bopearachchi 1A; MIG Type 211a; SNG ANS 682; Zeno –; HGC 12, 494; Boston MFA Supp. 312; Treasures of Ancient Bactria (Miho Museum), 46a (same obv. die). Lightly toned, traces of deposits, numerous marks, edge marks. Near EF. Very rare.
Unlike his silver and bronze issues, the gold coinage of Menander I Soter is very rare (as is the case with Baktrian gold issues in general). This stater, with the helmeted head of Athena on the obverse and an owl on the reverse, is among the rarest. This series has been known since the first specimen in the BM was reported in 1888, and a handful of others have come to light over the past century. More recently, though, there has been debate regarding the authenticity of some examples of this issue. Mitchiner questioned the authenticity of some of the examples he recorded (noted below), but did not doubt the 1888 British Museum specimen. Bopearachchi, in a note on the series, repeated Mitchiner’s reservation without further elucidation. Some examples, such as the two in the ANS, have been condemned, but many of the known pieces remain as likely genuine.
1. A/a
a) Triton XXVIII, lot 425 (this coin)
2. B/b
a) Bombay, Price of Wales Museum [A.S. Altekar, JNSI 11 (1949), pp. 45–6, pl. I, 2]
b) Private collection
3. B/c
a) Koka, Miho Museum [Treasures of Ancient Bactria 46a]
b) CNG 102, lot 706
4. B/d
a) London, British Museum, inv. 1888,1208.283 [MIG Type 211a (top photo)]
5. C/e
a) London, British Museum, inv. 1939,0512.1 [R. B. Whitehead, NC 1940, 5 (questioned by Mitchiner)].
b) Private collection [Haughton Collection 396 (questioned by Mitchiner)]
c) Private collection
6. D/f
a) Boston, Museum of Fine Arts [Boston MFA Supp. 312; Haughton Collection 397]
7. Unseen
a) Varanasi, Banaras Hindu University [A.S. Altekar, JNSI 11 (1949), p. 46]
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.
Unlike his silver and bronze issues, the gold coinage of Menander I Soter is very rare (as is the case with Baktrian gold issues in general). This stater, with the helmeted head of Athena on the obverse and an owl on the reverse, is among the rarest. This series has been known since the first specimen in the BM was reported in 1888, and a handful of others have come to light over the past century. More recently, though, there has been debate regarding the authenticity of some examples of this issue. Mitchiner questioned the authenticity of some of the examples he recorded (noted below), but did not doubt the 1888 British Museum specimen. Bopearachchi, in a note on the series, repeated Mitchiner’s reservation without further elucidation. Some examples, such as the two in the ANS, have been condemned, but many of the known pieces remain as likely genuine.
1. A/a
a) Triton XXVIII, lot 425 (this coin)
2. B/b
a) Bombay, Price of Wales Museum [A.S. Altekar, JNSI 11 (1949), pp. 45–6, pl. I, 2]
b) Private collection
3. B/c
a) Koka, Miho Museum [Treasures of Ancient Bactria 46a]
b) CNG 102, lot 706
4. B/d
a) London, British Museum, inv. 1888,1208.283 [MIG Type 211a (top photo)]
5. C/e
a) London, British Museum, inv. 1939,0512.1 [R. B. Whitehead, NC 1940, 5 (questioned by Mitchiner)].
b) Private collection [Haughton Collection 396 (questioned by Mitchiner)]
c) Private collection
6. D/f
a) Boston, Museum of Fine Arts [Boston MFA Supp. 312; Haughton Collection 397]
7. Unseen
a) Varanasi, Banaras Hindu University [A.S. Altekar, JNSI 11 (1949), p. 46]
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.
