1 Tetradrachm Euthydem imitation, Sogdiana, Sogdian legend left and Greek legend right

These imitative tetradrachms were produced by Sogdian rulers copying the coinage of Euthydemus I of Bactria — a Greek king whose dynasty had broken from Seleucid control around 250 BC and whose portrait and monetary forms carried enough regional authority to be worth imitating for generations after his death. The bilingual legend arrangement, with Sogdian script alongside degraded Greek, reflects a transitional monetary zone where neither tradition fully dominated.

By the mid-2nd century BC, Bactrian Greek power was fragmenting under pressure from nomadic incursions, and local Sogdian rulers were effectively filling an administrative vacuum rather than acknowledging Bactrian sovereignty.