Ancient Coin Stories

Let coins tell their stories…

Greco-Baktrian Kingdom, Diodotos I Soter
AR Tetradrachm circa 255-235 BCE
15.32g, 29mm, 6h
In the name of Antiochos II of the Seleukid Empire. Mint A (near Aï Khanoum), Diademed head to right / Zeus Bremetes advancing to left, brandishing aegis and thunderbolt; ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ to right, ΑΝΤΙΟΧΟΥ to left, monogram above eagle at inner left.
Kritt A6; Holt Series A, Group 6; Bopearachchi 2E; Mitchiner 64d; SNG ANS 77-8; SC 631.1a.
Ex Neil Collection

Diodotos I started the greco-baktrian kingdom, which existed in modern-day Pakistan and Afghanistan. A lot of what we know about this kingdom is through coins.

250 BCE

Diodotos I, the Seleukid satrap of Baktria, declares independence from the Seleukid Empire, establishing the Greco-Baktrian Kingdom.

208 BCE

Antiochos III of the Seleukid Empire campaigns in Baktria but eventually agrees to a peace with Euthydemos I, the Greco-Baktrian king, recognizing the kingdom’s independence.

171 BCE

Menander I succeeds in expanding Greco-Baktrian control into northwestern India, reaching the peak of Greco-Baktrian influence.

130 BCE

Yuezhi tribes (future Kushans) conquer Baktria, ending the Greco-Baktrian Kingdom and beginning the era of Kushan dominance in the region.