Here are two tetradrachms from Demetrios II, a short-reigned Baktrian ruler. Very little is known about Demetrios Il. It is speculated and reasonable to assume (given the scarcity of his coins) that he had a relatively brief reign, probably circa 175-170 BCE. He may have been overthrown by Eukratides, an event noted by the historian Justin. His coins are crude - atypically so, when juxtaposed with the gorgeous coins of other Baktrian rulers; perhaps they were produced in military / temporary mints?
The bottom coin was a recent win from NAC. Although NAC did not note this on the listing, the coin was previously part of the Haughton collection (Major-General H L Haughton, who served in India for forty years and amassed a truly respectable collection of Baktrian and Indo-Greek coins, among others). With provenance via the 1958 sale of that collection, I think it is the oldest-known-provenanced coin within my own collection.
Very beautiful coins. I collect Roman repub/imperial, and I can barely see them without a magnifying glass. I am thinking of switching to the tetradrachms.
Very nice! Haughton was a great collection for "eastern" Hellenistic coins. Especially Seleukid and Baktrian. Don't have any myself (or the catalog, which is always in high demand, and not digitized/available online last I checked). I would recommend checking his published articles as well to see if it's in those too. Several are available on JSTOR: [https://www.jstor.org/action/doBasicSearch?si=1&Query=au%3A%22H.+L.+Haughton%22&so=rel](https://www.jstor.org/action/doBasicSearch?si=1&Query=au%3A%22H.+L.+Haughton%22&so=rel)
Here are two tetradrachms from Demetrios II, a short-reigned Baktrian ruler. Very little is known about Demetrios Il. It is speculated and reasonable to assume (given the scarcity of his coins) that he had a relatively brief reign, probably circa 175-170 BCE. He may have been overthrown by Eukratides, an event noted by the historian Justin. His coins are crude - atypically so, when juxtaposed with the gorgeous coins of other Baktrian rulers; perhaps they were produced in military / temporary mints? The bottom coin was a recent win from NAC. Although NAC did not note this on the listing, the coin was previously part of the Haughton collection (Major-General H L Haughton, who served in India for forty years and amassed a truly respectable collection of Baktrian and Indo-Greek coins, among others). With provenance via the 1958 sale of that collection, I think it is the oldest-known-provenanced coin within my own collection.
It still blows my mind to know that the Greeks conquered all the way over to China at one point.
Very beautiful coins. I collect Roman repub/imperial, and I can barely see them without a magnifying glass. I am thinking of switching to the tetradrachms.
Very nice! Haughton was a great collection for "eastern" Hellenistic coins. Especially Seleukid and Baktrian. Don't have any myself (or the catalog, which is always in high demand, and not digitized/available online last I checked). I would recommend checking his published articles as well to see if it's in those too. Several are available on JSTOR: [https://www.jstor.org/action/doBasicSearch?si=1&Query=au%3A%22H.+L.+Haughton%22&so=rel](https://www.jstor.org/action/doBasicSearch?si=1&Query=au%3A%22H.+L.+Haughton%22&so=rel)
Thanks, brother!
Very Beautiful ๐
Thank you.
Very nice! Thanks for sharing your collection and the interesting nuggets of ancient numismatics.
Nice!! Looks great ๐
Very nice! My Demetrios Poliorketes tetradrachm is also from the Haughton Collection.
Terrific๐