Eucratides, 171-145 BC, drachm

Eucratides I, drachm, AR, reign 171–145 BC, Paropamisadai or Gandhara mint, 4.34 g, 16 mm. Obverse with diademed, draped, and cuirassed bust of Eucratides right, wearing a crested helmet embellished with bull’s horn and ear. Reverse with the legend BAΣIΛEΩΣ MEΓAΛOΥ EYKPATIΔOY. Well-centred for the type, with clear portrait detail and legible legend. Bopearachchi 7I var. Eucratides I was one of the most important kings of the Greco-Bactrian realm, adopting the title “Megas” (“Great”), reflected in the reverse inscription. His coinage documents the political and military expansion of Greco-Bactrian power into the regions of Paropamisadai and Gandhara, and it provides primary evidence for Hellenistic royal iconography and titulature at the eastern limits of the Greek world in the mid-2nd century BC.