Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Triton XXVIII – Sessions 1-4 . 425 Numistats ref: 672915
No match
Oriental Greek
Category
BAKTRIA, Indo-Greek Kingdom. Menander I Soter. Circa 155-130 BC. AV Stater (20mm, 8.46 g, 11h). Draped bust of Athena right, wearing crested helmet adorned with wing; all within bead-and-reel border / Owl standing right on ground line, head facing; A to left; all within bead-and-reel border. Bopearachchi 1A; MIG Type 211a; SNG ANS 682; Zeno –; HGC 12, 494; Boston MFA Supp. 312; Treasures of Ancient Bactria (Miho Museum), 46a (same obv. die). Lightly toned, traces of deposits, numerous marks, edge marks. Near EF. Very rare.
Unlike his silver and bronze issues, the gold coinage of Menander I Soter is very rare (as is the case with Baktrian gold issues in general). This stater, with the helmeted head of Athena on the obverse and an owl on the reverse, is among the rarest. Mitchiner questioned the authenticity of some of the examples he recorded (noted below), but did not doubt the 1888 British Museum specimen, which is struck from the same obverse die as the present coin (at a later die state). Bopearachchi, in a note on the series, repeated Mitchiner’s reservation without further elucidation. Some examples, such as the two in the ANS, have been condemned, but twelve of the known pieces remain as likely genuine. Notably, none of the pieces published from obverse die A, below, have been questioned.
1. A/a
a) Triton XXVIII, lot 425 (this coin)
2. A/b
a) Bombay, Price of Wales Museum [A.S. Altekar, JNSI 11 (1949), pp. 45–6, pl. I, 2]
b) Private collection
3. A/c
a) Koka, Miho Museum [Treasures of Ancient Bactria 46a]
b) CNG 102, lot 706
4. A/d
a) London, British Museum, inv. 1888,1208.283 [MIG Type 211a (top photo)]
5. B/e
a) Oxford, Ashmolean Museum [Haughton Collection 395 (questioned by Mitchiner)]
b) London, British Museum, inv. 1939,0512.1 [R. B. Whitehead, NC 1940, 5 (questioned by Mitchiner)].
c) Private collection [Haughton Collection 396 (questioned by Mitchiner)]
d) Private collection
6. C/f
a) Boston, Museum of Fine Arts [Boston MFA Supp. 312; Haughton Collection 397]
7. Unseen
a) Varanasi, Banaras Hindu University [A.S. Altekar, JNSI 11 (1949), p. 46] Description
Unlike his silver and bronze issues, the gold coinage of Menander I Soter is very rare (as is the case with Baktrian gold issues in general). This stater, with the helmeted head of Athena on the obverse and an owl on the reverse, is among the rarest. Mitchiner questioned the authenticity of some of the examples he recorded (noted below), but did not doubt the 1888 British Museum specimen, which is struck from the same obverse die as the present coin (at a later die state). Bopearachchi, in a note on the series, repeated Mitchiner’s reservation without further elucidation. Some examples, such as the two in the ANS, have been condemned, but twelve of the known pieces remain as likely genuine. Notably, none of the pieces published from obverse die A, below, have been questioned.
1. A/a
a) Triton XXVIII, lot 425 (this coin)
2. A/b
a) Bombay, Price of Wales Museum [A.S. Altekar, JNSI 11 (1949), pp. 45–6, pl. I, 2]
b) Private collection
3. A/c
a) Koka, Miho Museum [Treasures of Ancient Bactria 46a]
b) CNG 102, lot 706
4. A/d
a) London, British Museum, inv. 1888,1208.283 [MIG Type 211a (top photo)]
5. B/e
a) Oxford, Ashmolean Museum [Haughton Collection 395 (questioned by Mitchiner)]
b) London, British Museum, inv. 1939,0512.1 [R. B. Whitehead, NC 1940, 5 (questioned by Mitchiner)].
c) Private collection [Haughton Collection 396 (questioned by Mitchiner)]
d) Private collection
6. C/f
a) Boston, Museum of Fine Arts [Boston MFA Supp. 312; Haughton Collection 397]
7. Unseen
a) Varanasi, Banaras Hindu University [A.S. Altekar, JNSI 11 (1949), p. 46] Description
Near EF
Grade
28762.52 EUR
Starting
47937.54 EUR
Estimate
EUR
Realized