The Wonderful World of Ancient Coin Collecting
Coinage of the Roman Empire


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Coin Details

  

Set Details
Coin Description:
Grade: NGC Ch XF Strike: 4/5 Surface: 4/5
Owner: RAM-VT
 
Set Category: Ancients
Set Name: The Wonderful World of Ancient Coin Collecting
Slot Name: Coinage of the Roman Empire
Research: Currently not available

Owner's Description

Indo-Scythians Azes I/II after c. 58BC AR Drachm Grade: Ch XF: Strike 4/5: Surface 4/5 Obv.: BASILEWS BASILEWN MEGALOU AZOU, Emperor on horseback right, holding whip and raising right hand, bow on his back. A Karosthi letter in field to right. Rev.: Karosthi legend, Zeus standing left, holding long sceptre and Nike, Whitehead monogram 12 to left, a Karosthi letter in the field to right. Census - NGC does not provide census info on ancient coins :>( Azes I (c. 48–46 BCE – 25 BCE) was an Indo-Scythian ruler who completed the domination of the Scythians in northern India Azes's most lasting legacy was the foundation of the Azes era. It was widely believed that the era was begun by Azes's successors by simply continuing the counting of his regnal years. However, Prof. Harry Falk has recently presented an inscription at several conferences which dates to Azes's reign, and suggests that the era may have been begun by Azes himself. Most popular historians date the start of the Azes era to 58 BC and believe it is the same as the later era known as the Malwa or Vikrama era. However, a recently discovered inscription dated in both the Azes and the Greek era suggests that actually this is not the case. The inscription gives the relationship Azes = Greek + 128. It is believed that the Greek era may have begun in 173 BCE, exactly 300 years before the first year of the Era of Kanishka. If that is the case then the Azes era would begin in about 45 BC.. Azes II (reigned circa 35–12 BCE), may have been the last Indo-Scythian king in northern Indian subcontinent (modern day Pakistan). However, due to new research by R. C. Senior, his actual existence is now seriously in doubt, and "his" coins, etc., are now thought to refer to those of Azes I. On the Wildwinds site I believe this type of design is attributed to Azes II. After the death of Azes II, the rule of the Indo-Scythians in northwestern India and Pakistan finally crumbled with the conquest of the Kushans, one of the five tribes of the Yuezhi who had lived in Bactria for more than a century, and who were then expanding into India to create a Kushan Empire. Soon after, the Parthians invaded from the west. Their leader Gondophares temporarily displaced the Kushans and founded the Indo-Parthian Kingdom that was to last until the middle of the 1st century CE. The Kushans ultimately regained northwestern India circa 75 CE, where they were to prosper for several centuries. Azes II was long believed to have issued several of the Indo-Scythian coins struck under the name Azes in northern India. All these coins were however likely issued by a single ruler named Azes, as suggested by Robert Senior, when he found an overstrike of a coin attributed to Azes I over a coin attributed to Azes II, suggesting that all the "Azes II" coins were not later than those of "Azes I" and that there was only one king in the dynasty named Azes. This idea had long been advocated by Senior with a number of indirect numismatic arguments, for instance in his encyclopaedia of Indo-Scythian coins. My cost $48

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