Eucratides, 171-145 BC, Tetradrachm

Eucratides I, tetradrachm, AR, reign 171–145 BC, Paropamisadai or Gandhara mint, 15.54 g, 33 mm. Obverse with helmeted bust of Eucratides I to right, wearing a crested helmet; portrait style consistent with the royal issues attributed to the eastern mints. Reverse with Greek legend ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΜΕΓΑΛΟΥ ΕΥΚΡΑΤΙΔΟΥ (“of King Eucratides the Great”), the standard royal titulature of the series; reverse type not recorded in the provided data. Struck from dies; surfaces and fabric not described in the provided data. The coin is reported as “very possibly fake” in the supplied information and should be treated as requiring authentication prior to attributional or commercial certainty. Reference: Bopearachchi, Série 6E. Eucratides I was among the most important rulers of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom, and his large silver tetradrachms represent the continuation of Hellenistic royal coinage traditions in Central Asia during a period of political fragmentation and expanding contact zones between the Hellenistic world and South Asia; issues attributed to Paropamisadai and Gandhara are significant for documenting the geographic reach of Greco-Bactrian authority and the circulation of Greek-language monetary types along transregional trade and military corridors.