Are these the earliest Greek coins of Bactria?
Files
Accepted manuscript
Date
2021-12-01
DOI
Authors
Tandon, Pankaj
Version
Accepted manuscript
OA Version
Citation
P. Tandon. 2021. "Are these the Earliest Greek Coins of Bactria?." Revue numismatique, Volume 2021, Issue 178, pp. 3 - 24.
Abstract
Numismatists have long been interested in the question of whether any Greek coins had been issued in Bactria prior to the arrival there in 329 BCE of Alexander the Great. Various scholars have attempted to assign coins to this period, including the Bactrian imitations of Athenian owls, the so-called “Eagle” series, and the coins of Sophytes. However, modern scholarship generally rejects these attempts, and the prevailing view is that all of these coins were issued in either the late 4th century or the 3rd century, after the time of Alexander. Recently, however, a number of small obol sized silver coins have been emerging from the area of Balkh that call for a re-opening of this question. This paper argues that there is at least a possibility, and maybe even a probability, that these coins were issued in the late 5th and 4th centuries, and that the likely issuers were the Branchidae, the priestly clan who administered the temple of Apollo in Didyma. Thus the coins not only suggest an answer to the question first posed here, but also may provide physical evidence of the presence in Bactria of the Branchidae.