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Drachm - Azes
| Issuer | Indo-Scythian Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Year | 58 BC - 12 BC |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | HGC 12#640, Senior#76.3 |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Greek |
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| Reverse description | The reverse presents the goddess Athena or Nike standing in three-quarter view, draped in a long chiton with detailed pleating, extending her right arm forward and holding a Nike figurine or wreath, in a posture derived from Hellenistic prototypes. A small figure or symbol appears in the lower right field. The design is enclosed within a beaded border. The surrounding Kharosthi inscription, reading 'Maharajasa Rajarajasa Mahatasa Ayasa,' is the Prakrit equivalent of the Greek obverse legend, proclaiming Azes as the Great King of Kings. |
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| Additional information |
Azes I founded the Azes Era — a calendrical system whose epoch is still debated, with scholars placing it variously between 58 and 47 BC — and his coinage was instrumental in spreading that reckoning across the northwestern subcontinent. The sheer volume of his silver output, minted at multiple workshops across the Indus region, reflects a ruler who understood that coin production was administrative infrastructure. His types deliberately echoed Parthian and late Bactrian weight standards to ease commercial exchange across fractious regional borders.
Senior 76.3 belongs to a bilingual series carrying Greek on one face and Kharoshthi on the other, a practice inherited from the Indo-Greek kings Azes displaced. The specific die pairing referenced here is among the more frequently encountered in collections, yet clean examples without test cuts are not trivial to find.