|
Greek, Sogdiana, Imitative Antiochos I Soter, 281-261 BC, AR Drachm
|
Laureate head of Antiochos right.
Retrograde legend ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ANT[I]OXOY curving from left to below and before a bridled horned horse head right, circled Δ to far right.
SC 461-462 (var. – controls); HGC 9, 136 (var. - controls) (R3).
Sogidana, uncertain mint, mid-third century BC.
A unique and unrecorded variant of SC 461-462.
(17 mm, 2.86 g, 6h)
ex- William K. Raymond Collection
The crude style, the retrograde semi-circular legend, the disposition of the mint control and the low weight of this coin are indicative of a Sogdian imitation of the Antiochos I drachm type that was issued by the mint at Ai Khanoum in Baktria during the period 281-261 BC. Unlike the imitative coin the official issue was struck on the Attic weight standard of 4.3 grams. The style of this coin and the full replication of the Ai Khanoum mint control place it early in the Sogdian imitative series, possibly contemporaneous with the lifetime Antiochos I issue that it imitates. Marcanda/Samarkand and Bukhara are likely candidates for the origin of this coin.
|
|