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!
Tetradrachm - Eucratides I
| Issuer | Kings of Baktria |
|---|---|
| Year | 170 BC - 145 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 16.81 g |
| 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 | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The Dioskouroi, Castor and Pollux, are depicted as mounted cavalrymen prancing vigorously to right on spirited horses, each figure shown in military attire. Each twin holds a long spear in the outer hand and a palm branch, symbolizing victory, in the inner hand. The composition conveys dynamic movement and martial authority, rendered in the confident Hellenistic style favored by Baktrian engravers. A dynastic monogram appears in the lower right field. The royal Greek legend encircles the design. |
| 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 | ND (170 BC - 145 BC) |
| Additional information |
Eucratides I seized the Baktrian throne through civil war, likely overthrowing Demetrius II, and built what ancient sources describe as an empire of a thousand cities. His reign ended when his own son — possibly Eucratides II — murdered him on the road back from a campaign against Parthia, reportedly driving a chariot through his body and forbidding burial. The sheer volume of his coinage, including the famous twenty-stater gold piece now in Paris, suggests a mint operating under serious military and administrative pressure throughout his rule.