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Drachm - Antimachus II 'the Victorious'
| Issuer | Indo-Greek Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Year | 174 BC - 165 BC |
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| Orientation | Medal alignment ↑↑ |
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| Obverse description | Standing male figure in the field, rendered in Hellenistic style, facing front with arms slightly extended. The effigy, identified as the deified king or a divine figure, occupies the central field of the flan. The circular Greek legend BAΣIΛEΩΣ NIKHΦOPOY ANTIMAXOY runs along the periphery, partially visible on this worn example. The overall style reflects the hybrid Greco-Bactrian artistic tradition characteristic of Indo-Greek coinage of the second century BC. |
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| Obverse lettering | BAΣIΛEΩΣ NIKHΦOPOY ANTIMAXOY (Translation: BASILEOS NIKHFOROS ANTIMACHUS) |
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Antimachus II ruled a shrinking kingdom — by his reign, Bactrian territory was already under sustained pressure from Parthian expansion to the west and Saka nomads from the north. His epithet "Nikephoros" (the Victorious) is therefore something of an open question historically, with no surviving sources confirming what victory, if any, it actually commemorates. He may have inherited the title alongside claims to legitimacy from Antimachus I Theos, whose dynastic connection he appears to have invoked deliberately.
MIG Type 135a is the bilingual issue, with Greek on one face and Kharosthi on the other — an administrative necessity for ruling populations across the Hindu Kush.