Tetradrachm - Heraios

Heraios occupies a contested position in Kushan chronology — whether he was a pre-imperial chieftain, a rival claimant, or the direct dynastic predecessor to Kujula Kadphises remains unresolved among specialists. His coinage is the earliest attributed to the Kushan line and draws heavily on the degraded Greco-Bactrian tradition, reflecting a ruling class that inherited Hellenistic administrative machinery without the Greek literacy to maintain it cleanly. The legends on his issues show progressive corruption across the die sequence, a pattern Göbl documented systematically.

Alram 1263 places this type firmly in the transitional phase before the Kushans consolidated Bactria.