THE SPLENDID GREEK COINS OF BACTRIA

The ancient name of Afghanistan is Bactria. Persian shahs (550-330 BCE) ruled these wild lands without being too involved with them, getting silver and military service in tribute from the skilled tribesmen of the region.

Then,Alexander the Great arrived with  his army of Greeks. Alexander kept the sensible structure of the Persian Empire, and he gave territories to his generals, and appointed them as satraps, or provincial rulers. After Alexander’s death, these satraps turned the  his Empire into a multitude of Kingdoms who fought one another. A general named Seleucus (born 358 BCE, assassinated 281) ruled much of the East, including Bactria, establishing a dynasty that would last for almost 250 years.

Greeks settled in the new lands and intermarried with the locals. A new society was created, combining Mediterranean, Indian and Central Asian characteristics. One tradition the Greeks brought with them, was the taste for artistic coinage on precious metals.

From Satrap to King

Antiochus I

Antiochus I.

Some of the earliest Greek coinage struck in Bactria is attributed to the mint of Ai Khanoum, a “lost city” rediscovered in 1961. Gold staters and silver tetradrachms were issued in the name of Antiochus I, son of Seleucus. Around 250 BCE, the satrap Diodotus, followed by his son Diodotus II, began to assert independence, eventually replacing the Seleucid reverse image of seated Apollo with their own symbol, Zeus hurling a thunderbolt.

Diodotus II

The coins are rare, and the debate over which Diodotus struck what coin and when, has intrigued generations of scholars. Some cataloguers simply describe coins as “Diodotus I or II.”

There was at least one other mint apart from the one in Ai Khanoum, possibly at Bactra, the ancient capital, and there also may have been a third ruler, confusingly named Antiochus Nikator. They issued a range of gold, silver and bronze denominations. Many surviving Diodotid gold staters have deeply chiseled “test cuts,” perhaps because plated fakes circulated in later years.

Euthydemus

 Between 230 and 223 BCE, a general named Euthydemus overthrew the Diodotids. He fought the Seleucid king, Antiochus III (“The Great”), resisting a three-year siege of Bactra (208-206 BCE). Antiochus finally made peace, and gave his daughter in marriage to Demetrius, son of Euthydemus.

Euthydemus was unusually lucky for a Hellenistic monarch- his reign was long, perhaps over 30 years.In his coin portraits, we can see him aging  gradually. On the reverse, coins of Euthydemus depict a weary Heracles resting on a rock pile, holding his emblematic club.

Conqueror of India

Demetrius I

Born in about 222 BCE, Demetrius I, son of Euthydemus, ruled from c. 200 to 180. He was never defeated in battle, earning the epithet Aniketos (“Invincible”). In about 180 BCE, he invaded India, conquering the Indus valley and advancing far into the Ganges plain. His coinage is a testament of his achievements,as he appears wearing the “Elephant Scalp” headdress. For the Greeks, this was a bold claim to the glory of Alexander the Great, who was similarly depicted on coins struck for Ptolemy I of Egypt, 130 years earlier. On his bronze coinage, Demetrius placed the head of an elephant, with a kerykeion on the reverse–the symbolic staff carried by Greek heralds, which is also a famous symbol of the God Hermes.

The Smile of Antimachus

Antimachus may have been a son of Euthydemus and brother of Demetrius. His reign is estimated during 171 – 160 BCE, but like most dates in Bactrian history, the margin of error is wide.Apart from his coins, almost nothing is known about him.

He placed a graceful standing image of Poseidon on the reverse of his coins. Since Poseidon is the God of the seas, this might seem strange for a landlocked country. Poseidon,however is also the patron God of horses, for which Bactria was famous. The inscription is BASILEUS THEOU ANTIMACHOU (“of King Antimachus the God”). Although Hellenistic rulers often claimed that they had Divine origins in their court protocol or monuments, no living King had ever called himself a god on his coinage before. The coin of Antimachus shows him wearing a kausia, the Macedonian hat, from which the distinctive Afghan pakol has its origins. On the best dies, the king’s face has a gentle, enigmatic smile which, like Mona Lisa’s mysterious grin, has fascinated generations of viewers.

We do not know the fate of Antimachus. He (or possibly one of his sons) was overthrown by Eucratides.

Mysterious Nickel

For about 15 years (185-170 BCE), three obscure Bactrian kings issued coinage in a copper-nickel alloy–something otherwise unknown in ancient numismatics. The denomination was a dichalkon, or “double unit”, of 7-8 grams and about 24 mm in diameter, or more rarely a chalkon (about 3.7 grams, 18 mm). Two of the kings, Pantaleon and Agathokles, were probably brothers. They used the same design: an obverse bust of Dionysos, the God of ecstasy and wine; on the reverse a walking panther (pantaleon means “panther” in Greek; leopards are known animal companions  of Dionysos).

Euthydemus II used an obverse laureate bust of Apollo, with a tripod on the reverse. Τhe nickel may have come to Bactria through trade exchanges with China. We do not know why it was alloyed with copper; nevertheless, Greek furnaces couldn't produce enough heat in order to melt nickel properly;thus, the coins tend to have pitted surfaces full of grain.

Eucratides the Great

Eucratides seized the throne by force, and ruled for about 25 years before being murdered by his own son. Judging by his coinage, which is almost the only evidence we have about him, Bactria reached a peak of prosperity and grandeur under his rule. Eucratides issued the largest surviving gold coin struck in antiquity, perhaps as a diplomatic presentation piece.

On that unique medallion, and on his very rare gold staters and more common silver tetradrachms, Eucratides appears in armor, wearing a plumed Macedonian cavalry helmet of surprisingly modern design. On the reverse, we see the Dioskouroi, Castor and Polydeukes, holding lances and riding galloping war horses. When the Afghan Central Bank was established in 1939, it adopted this reverse design as its seal, and it still appears on current Afghan banknotes.

The End of Greek Baktria

Heliocles 

Heliocles may or may not be the son who murdered Eucratides:

“[A]S IF HE DIDN’T KILL A FATHER BUT AN ENEMY, RAN WITH HIS CHARIOT OVER THE BLOOD OF HIS FATHER, AND ORDERED THE CORPSE TO BE LEFT WITHOUT A SEPULTURE” -JUSTIN, HISTORIARUM PHILIPPICARUM LIBRI XLIV, BOOK 41:6

 2nd-century Roman historian, Justin, describes the murder,but never names the killer. Heliocles uses the epithet Dikaios (“The Righteous”) on his coins, perhaps in an attempt to justify his act. About 130 BCE, a wild nomadic tribe,the Yuezhi,conquered Bactria. Heliocles may have fallen in battle against them. Although Indo-Greek kingdoms south of the mountains would last for more than one century, Heliocles' fall marked the end of Greek rule north of the Hindu Kush.

Long ago, traders with a taste for illegal transactions in the bazaars of Peshawar and Kabul discovered that foreigners would pay good money for Bactrian coins. Thus, an illegal industry developed, providing counterfeits when real ones couldn't be found. Hoards have supplied museums and collectors; some have been partly documented, like Mir Zakah (late 1940’s) and Kunduz (1946), while others were sold separately.

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