Menander I, 155-130 BC, Drachm

Menander I Soter, drachm, AR, reign 155–130 BC, uncertain mint, 2.24 g, 16 mm. Obverse with Greek legend BAΣIΛEΩΣ ΣΩTHPOΣ MENANΔPOY, enclosing the royal portrait of Menander I to right, diademed and draped, with the legend naming the king as “Saviour.” Reverse with Kharoshthi legend Maharajasa tratarasa Menamdrasa (“of the Great King, the Saviour, Menander”), surrounding the standard Indo-Greek reverse type for this issue. Well-centred for the type, struck in good silver with clear legends and even surfaces. Bopearachchi 13O.

Menander I was among the most prominent Indo-Greek rulers, and his bilingual coinage is a primary source for the political and cultural interaction between Hellenistic and northwestern Indian traditions in the 2nd century BC; the paired Greek and Kharoshthi inscriptions document a dual administrative and linguistic environment and provide securely attributable evidence for royal titulature, regional circulation, and the continuity of Greek monetary practice beyond the Hellenistic Mediterranean.