I came to realize that my Indian collection is entirely devoid of any Parthian invaders. I saw this one, liked it, and won it.
Indo-Parthian Kingdom, Gondopharid Dynasty
Pakores
c. 100 AD
Diademed bust left, wearing necklace ornamented with row of pellets, five-rayed star to right, blundered Greek legend around (Supposedly BACILEWN NEGA PAKORES; You can see B-ACI-LEWN from the star to the bottom of the portrait)
Nike standing right, holding wreath and sceptre, monograms flanking legs, Kharosthi legend around (can't find a reference for what it says)
25mm, 8.02g
Senior 269, MACW 2565.
The Indo-Parthian Kingdom was founded in c. 20 BC by Gondophares I, supposedly an Iranian client king of the Parthian empire. He managed to expand past Iran and through Afghanistan, Pakistan, and into the Punjab, displacing the Scythian rulers as he went. His dynasty did not last long, and was already weakening shortly after his death.
Pakores was not the last Indo-Parthian ruler, but he was the last of any consequence. He issued scarce bronze tetradrachms such as this one, based on the Indo-Greek and Scythian numismatic traditions, and also very rare Parthian-type silver drachms. Apparently the most solid evidence of the chronology of his rule is that some of his coins over strike those of Vima Takto.
In researching my coin, I stumbled on an earlier step in its provenance:
https://www.vcoins.com/en/stores/ar...Default.aspxI feel genuinely bad; the seller did not get nearly that much from the resale!
Posted 07/21/2017 3:19 pm
