| Heritage World Coin Auctions > Showcase Auction 61356 | Auction date: 29 January 2024 |
| Lot number: 25055 Price realized: 380 USD (Approx. 350 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: Ancients BACTRIAN KINGDOM. Agathocles (ca. 185-180/170 BC). AR tetradrachm (30mm, 16.51 gm, 12h). VF, repaired. Attic standard. "Pedigree issue" commemorating Euthydemus I (ca. 230-200 BC). ΕΥΘΥΔΗΜΟΥ-ΘΕΟΥ, diademed head of the deified Euthydemus I right / BAΣIΛEΥONTOΣ-AΓAΘOKΛEOYΣ-ΔIKAIOY, Heracles seated left on rock, club in right hand supported by right knee, left hand resting on lion skin draped over rocks; KP monogram in inner right field. Bopearachchi Série 16A. Evidence of repairs, thus ineligible for encapsulation. From the Dynasty Collection, #203. With this rare "pedigree" tetradrachm, Agathocles honors his predecessor Euthydemus I, one of the few Greco-Bactrian rulers for whom there are historical records other than coinage. The historian Polybius records that a certain Euthydemus of Magnesia, satrap of Sogdonia, overthrew Diodotus II, son of the kingdom's founder, in about 230-223 BC. In 208 BC his realm was invaded by the Seleucid monarch Antiochus III the Great, who sought to bring the rebel Bactrian kingdom to heel. Though he commanded a cavalry arm of 10,000 horseman, Euthydemus lost an initial battle against Antiochus and withdrew to the fortified city of Bactra. Antiochus laid siege to the city, but after three years it had still not fallen, and he was forced to conclude a treaty with Euthydemus by which he married his daughter to the rebel king's son, Demetrius. The Seleucid king reportedly even praised Euthydemus for protecting the Greek-ruled kingdoms from the nomadic warrior hordes of the Far East. Euthydemus went on to rule until about 195 BC, when he was succeeded by Demetrius. Both Agathocles and his co-ruler (or rival) Antimachus struck pedigree coins honoring Euthydemus, but it is unlikely either had any blood connection to his dynasty. SOLD AS IS, NO RETURNS https://coins.ha.com/itm/ancients/greek/ancients-bactrian-kingdom-agathocles-ca-185-180-170-bc-ar-tetradrachm-30mm-1651-gm-12h-vf-repaired/a/61356-25055.s?type=DA-DMC-CoinArchives-WorldCoins-61356-01292024 HID02906262019 © 2023 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved |  |
Match 1:
| Heritage World Coin Auctions > NYINC Signature Sale 3114 | Auction date: 16 January 2024 |
| Lot number: 33182 Price realized: 2,800 USD (Approx. 2,572 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: Ancients BACTRIAN KINGDOM. Agathocles (ca. 185-180/70 BC). AR tetradrachm (30mm, 16.80 gm, 11h). NGC XF 5/5 - 4/5, Fine Style. Merv mint (?), ca. 185-180 BC. Diademed, draped bust of Agathocles right; dotted border / BAΣIΛEΩΣ / ΑΓΑΘΟΚΛΕOYΣ, Zeus standing facing, scepter in left hand, figure of Hecate standing facing in right hand, holding torches in either hand; monogram in inner left field. Bopearachchi 1D. Bopearachchi & Rahman 149. SNG ANS 230. Clean, central strike with bold Fine Style devices silhouetted in warm amber tones. From the Dynasty Collection, #66. Like many Greco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek rulers, Agathocles is a near complete mystery to us in terms of his origins, rise to power and the extent of his realm. On his rare "pedigree" coinage he claims the previous Bactrian Kings Diodotus, Euthydemus and Demetrius as his ancestors; however these were from rival houses, and Agathocles also claims kinship to Alexander the Great and an "Antiochus Nicator," possibly Antiochus II or III, to whom he almost certainly bore no blood relation. The evidence supports the conclusion that he was a usurper who seized control, or was appointed to rule, a portion of the vast, unwieldy kingdom along with his contemporaries Antimachus Theos, Panteleon and Apollodotus I, whose coins seem to have been struck in the same 20 year span in the early second century BC. Of his character we can deduce little aside from the personality hinted at by his extraordinary coin portraits, which depict a lean man with a head of tight, curly hair, a sharply pointed nose, compressed lips, and a bit of a mad gleam in his eye. Whatever his origins and personal qualities, his reign was cut short by the rise of Eucratides I, who seems to have suppressed his rivals and assumed full control of all Bactria in about 170 BC; Greek-ruled northern India remained independent, however, under the successors of Apollodotus I. https://coins.ha.com/itm/ancients/greek/ancients-bactrian-kingdom-agathocles-ca-185-180-70-bc-ar-tetradrachm-30mm-1680-gm-11h-ngc-xf-5-5-4-5-fi/a/3114-33182.s?type=DA-DMC-CoinArchives-WorldCoins-3114-01162024 HID02906262019 © 2023 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved |  |
Match 2:
| Heritage World Coin Auctions > Showcase Auction 61356 | Auction date: 29 January 2024 |
| Lot number: 25054 Price realized: 480 USD (Approx. 442 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: Ancients BACTRIAN KINGDOM. Euthydemus I (ca. 225-200 BC). AR tetradrachm (30mm, 16.51 gm, 11h). NGC XF 4/5 - 3/5, Fine Style, flan flaw. Mint B, ca. 206-200 BC. Diademed head of Euthydemus right, with elderly features / BAΣIΛEΩΣ / ΕΥΘΥΔΗΜΟΥ, Heracles, nude, seated left on rock, right hand balancing club on knee, leaning back on left hand; K to lower right. Bopearachchi 12A var (KP monogram). HGC 12, 43. From the Dynasty Collection, #188. https://coins.ha.com/itm/ancients/greek/ancients-bactrian-kingdom-euthydemus-i-ca-225-200-bc-ar-tetradrachm-30mm-1651-gm-11h-ngc-xf-4-5-3-5-fin/a/61356-25054.s?type=DA-DMC-CoinArchives-WorldCoins-61356-01292024 HID02906262019 © 2023 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved |  |
Match 3:
| Heritage World Coin Auctions > Showcase Auction 61356 | Auction date: 29 January 2024 |
| Lot number: 25053 Price realized: 340 USD (Approx. 313 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: Ancients BACTRIAN KINGDOM. Euthydemus I (ca. 225-200 BC). AR tetradrachm (28mm, 16.16 gm, 12h). NGC Choice XF 5/5 - 2/5, Fine Style, brushed. Mint B, ca. 206-200 BC. Diademed head of Euthydemus right, with elderly features / BAΣIΛEΩΣ / ΕΥΘΥΔΗΜΟΥ, Heracles, nude, seated left on rock, right hand balancing club on knee, leaning back on left hand; KP monogram to lower right. Bopearachchi 12A. HGC 12, 43. From the Dynasty Collection, #208. https://coins.ha.com/itm/ancients/greek/ancients-bactrian-kingdom-euthydemus-i-ca-225-200-bc-ar-tetradrachm-28mm-1616-gm-12h-ngc-choice-xf-5-5-2/a/61356-25053.s?type=DA-DMC-CoinArchives-WorldCoins-61356-01292024 HID02906262019 © 2023 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved |  |
Match 4:
| Heritage World Coin Auctions > CSNS Signature Sale 3115 | Auction date: 8 May 2024 |
| Lot number: 32176 Price realized: This lot is for sale in an upcoming auction - Bid on this lot  | |
| Lot description: Ancients SELEUCID KINGDOM. Antiochus II Theos (261-246 BC). AR tetradrachm (30mm, 17.01 gm, 12h). NGC MS 4/5 - 2/5 Fine Style, brushed, die shift. Antioch on the Orontes, after spring 252 BC. Diademed head of Antiochus I right, dotted border / BAΣIΛEΩΣ / ANT-IOXOY, Apollo seated left on omphalus, testing arrow in outstretched right hand, left hand on grounded bow to right behind; KAE monogram in outer left field, ΔI monogram in outer right field, dotted border. SC 571.1. A charming lifelike portrait of Antiochus II on lustrous white surfaces. https://coins.ha.com/itm/ancients/greek/ancients-seleucid-kingdom-antiochus-ii-theos-261-246-bc-ar-tetradrachm-30mm-1701-gm-12h-ngc-ms-4-5-2-5-fi/a/3115-32176.s?type=DA-DMC-CoinArchives-WorldCoins-3115-05082024 HID02906262019 © 2024 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved |  |
Match 5:
| Heritage World Coin Auctions > CSNS Signature Sale 3115 | Auction date: 8 May 2024 |
| Lot number: 32190 Price realized: This lot is for sale in an upcoming auction - Bid on this lot | |
| Lot description: Ancients BACTRIAN KINGDOM. Demetrius I (ca. 200-185 BC). AR tetradrachm (34mm, 17.03 gm, 11h). NGC Choice XF★ 5/5 - 4/5, die shift. Diademed, draped bust of Demetrius I right, seen from side, wearing headdress composed of elephant head, ears, trunk, and tusks; dotted border / BAΣIΛEΩΣ / ΔHMHTPIOY, Heracles standing facing, nude, crowning himself with wreath in right hand, club cradled in left arm and draped with lion skin; ΦΔΠ monogram to inner left. Bopearachchi Série 1B. SNG ANS 186. HGC 12, 63. Spectacular specimen with stern portrait struck on a luscious broad and toned flan. The unusual elephant headdress worn by Demetrius on this tetradrachm recalls the similar headgear sported by Alexander the Great on early coins of Ptolemaic Egypt, referring to his conquests in northern India. Demetrius also campaigned in India while serving a long apprenticeship under his father, Euthydemus I, as recorded on a dedicatory stone recently discovered north of Ai Khanoum in Afghanistan. After succeeding to the throne, he launched an invasion of northern India that extended Greek control into modern Pakistan. The historian Strabo claims "more tribes were subdued by [Demetrius] than Alexander." https://coins.ha.com/itm/ancients/greek/ancients-bactrian-kingdom-demetrius-i-ca-200-185-bc-ar-tetradrachm-34mm-1703-gm-11h-ngc-choice-xfand-9733-/a/3115-32190.s?type=DA-DMC-CoinArchives-WorldCoins-3115-05082024 HID02906262019 © 2024 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved |  |
