TETRADRAMMA CON ATENA AL DIRITTO E CIVETTA AL ROVESCIO

[King John]

Conoscevate questo bel tetradramma del tutto simile a quelli di Atene dello stile intermedio? Solo che non è stata coniata ad Atene ma dal re di Battria Sofite.

KINGS OF BAKTRIA. Sophytes, ca.305-294 B.C.
Tetradrachm. Imitation of Athenian Tetradrachm, local weight standard. Helmeted head of Athena r. Rv. Owl standing r., head facing, olive spray and pellet-in-crescent behind, AΘE to r., all within incuse square. 15.89 grams. Cf. Bopearachchi Sophytes Series 1A, cf. SNG ANS 1, cf. Mitch.13a (all of Attic weight). Reverse slightly off-center. Pale gray toning. Extremely Fine. Apparently unpublished. (1,500-2,000)
While the identity of Sophytes remains a mystery, it is possible that he was the same Sopeithes who fought Alexander the Great as a young prince and later, as a local leader, accepted a position of authority under Seleukos I when Seleukos was forced to end his eastern campaign prematurely and attend to affairs in Asia Minor.
From the Lawrence R. Stack Collection of Ancient Greek Coins. 
Ex CNG 66 (May 2004, lot 922).

[King John]

Altra moneta di Sofite con il suo ritratto.

Kingdom of Bactria, Sophites circa 315 – 294 

Drachm, Bactra circa 300, AR 3.65 g. Head of satrap r., wearing helmet with cheekpiece, three olive leaves over visor and spiral palmette on bowl. Rev. ΣΩΦYΤΟΥ Cockerel standing r.; behind, caduceus. Whitehead NC 1943, pp. 64, 1 and pl. III, 7 (these dies). Mitchiner type 29b. SNG ANS 21.

Very rare and in exceptional condition for the issue. Light

iridescent tone and extremely fine / good extremely fine

From a Swiss collection and privately purchased from Frank Kovacs in 2003.

 

Modificato 7 Gennaio, 2017 da King John

[King John]

Alcune informazioni su questo misterioso re:

"Sophytes" known to us through a good number of coins bearing his name in the genitive form: ΣÙΦYTOY, is one of the most enigmatic rulers of Central Asian history. The geographical situation of his kingdom, the definition of his chronology and the identification of the origin of his name caused much ink to flow since the publication of his first known coin by Alexander Cunningham in 1866. Since then these coins, certainly because of their excellent workmanship and the unusual name, aroused much curiosity among the numismatists and historians of Central Asia and India. Coins of Sophytos are very closely linked with two other series known as 'imitations of Athenian 'owls' and 'eagle series' found in the territories north of the Hindu Kush mountains. Bopearachchi believes that these coins were struck before Seleucus I's eastern expedition against Chandragupta which led to the treaty signed with the latter in 303 BC.

[Matteo91]

Belle e rare monete, @King John

Ne avevo condivisa una qui: 

L'avevo trovata nel sito del British Museum: http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1288290&partId=1&searchText=Oxus&images=on&page=1



Altre monete del regnante da te citato, invece, si possono trovare anche in questo sito specializzato sulla monetazione di area indiana: http://coinindia.com/galleries-greek-preSeleucid.html

Su queste civette l'attribuzione al re Sophites non è sempre condivisa, da quanto leggo nelle descrizioni...

[King John]

22 minuti fa, Matteo91 dice:

Belle e rare monete, @King John

 

Ad averne una...

Modificato 9 Gennaio, 2017 da King John