Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
Pentachalkon - Azes II
| Issuer | Indo-Scythian Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Year | 35 BC - 5 AD |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Pentachalkon (5⁄48) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΝ ΜΕΓΑΛΟΥ ΑΖΟΥ |
| Reverse description | Central type depicting a humped bull (zebu) standing to the right within the field, a motif with strong Indian religious associations linked to Shaivite iconography. Above the bull appears a Kharoshthi monogram or symbol. The surrounding circular legend in Kharoshthi script reads Maharajasa Rajadirajasa Mahatasa Ayasa (Of the Great King of Kings, the Great Azes), serving as the Prakrit equivalent of the obverse Greek legend. The flan is irregular, with moderate surface patination consistent with age and burial, and the strike exhibits the characteristic flatness seen on larger Indo-Scythian copper denominations. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Azes II — if he existed as a distinct ruler at all — remains one of the most contested figures in Indo-Scythian numismatics. Several scholars, most notably Nicholas Sims-Williams following his work on the Rabatak inscription, have argued that "Azes II" is a historiographical fiction and that coins attributed to him are simply later issues of Azes I. The debate has never been fully resolved, meaning this coin's very attribution is itself a live academic question.
Mitch 2382 falls within a copper series likely struck at Taxila.