Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Triton XXVIII – Sessions 1-4 . 355
SELEUKID EMPIRE. Andragoras. Seleukid governor, circa 280-275 BC. AV Stater (17.5mm, 8.58 g, 6h). Diademed head right, drapery around neck; monogram to left / Nike, holding kentron in extended right hand, reins in left, driving fast quadriga right; behind her, warrior standing right; three pellets below horses’ forelegs, ANΔPAΓOPOY in exergue. SC –; MIG Type 19; HGC 9, –; BMC Arabia p. 193, 2; Triton XX, lot 341 = NAC 78, lot 337 = Triton XVI, lot 550 (same dies). In NGC encapsulation 6672715-001, graded Ch AU, Strike: 4/5, Surface: 4/5, Fine Style. Extremely rare.
At least six gold staters of Andragoras are known, struck from one obverse die and two reverse dies. No. 1 below is struck from the same obverse die but a different reverse die as the present coin. Nos. 2-6 are struck from the same obverse and reverse dies as the present coin, which is no. 7:
1. London. British Museum (acquired 1879): BMC Arabia, North East Persia No. 1, p. 193 (pl, xxviii, 1); NC 1879, p. 1, pl. I, 1; Head, Historia Numorum (2nd ed.), p. 825, fig. 361; Mitchiner Type 19 (illustrated on the right); ex Oxus Treasure.
2. London. British Museum (acquired 1888): BMC Arabia, North East Persia No. 2, p. 193; Mitchiner Type 19 (illustrated on the left); ex Cunningham collection.
3. Berlin. H. Dressel, ZfN 21 (1898), 231 (see http://www.smb.museum/ikmk/object.php?objectNR=0&size=0&content=0&side=1)
4. Numismatica Ars Classica 59 (4 April 2011), lot 652; Paris Match magazine, 15-22 June 2005, p. 73.
5. Private Collection, unpublished.
6. Triton XX (9 January 2017), lot 341 = Numismatica Ars Classica 78 (26 May 2014), lot 337; Triton XVI (8 January 2013), lot 550.
7. Present coin.
The identification of Andragoras has been a matter of debate. Justin mentions two people by that name: (1) a noble Persian appointed by Alexander the Great as governor of Parthia (xii.4.12), and (2) a Seleukid governor of Parthia about the middle of the 3rd century who was defeated by Arsakes (xli.4.7). Both extremely rare gold staters and scarce silver tetradrachms are known in his name, neither of which bear the royal title Basileos. What literary evidence exists derives from the later Greco-Roman historians of Alexander (Arrian and Curtius), as well as the first century AD historian, Pompeius Trogus (known later through Justin). One possible contemporary piece of evidence – a Greek inscription from Gurgan – mentions Andragoras as a high official under Antiochos I (see J. Wolski, “Andragoras était-il Iranien ou Grec?” Studia Iranica 4 [1975], pp. 166-69). B. Kritt, in his recent work, Andragoras, Double Darics, and the coinage of Alexandria on the Oxus (Lancaster, PA: Classical Numismatic Group, 2022), reassessed the totality of the evidence, and persuasively argues that the coinage was struck earlier than previously thought, circa 280-275 BC, rather than circa 249-239/8 BC. As such, our Andragoras must be the one mentioned in the Gorgan inscription (SEG 20.325), which is dated to the time of Antiochos I. Andragoras could not have been the later satrap of Parthia. In fact, he was the governor of Alexandreia on the Oxus, appointed by Antiochos I shortly after his accession to the throne, circa 280 BC. Andragoras, who was in his late sixties when appointed, ruled over the Seleukid colony until his death, circa 275 BC.