Greek: BACTRIAN KINGDOM. Demetrius I (ca. 200-185 BC). AR tetradrachm (32mm, 16.82 gm, 12h). NGC Choice AU 5/5 - 4/5....

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BACTRIAN KINGDOM. Demetrius I (ca. 200-185 BC). AR tetradrachm (32mm, 16.82 gm, 12h). NGC Choice AU 5/5 - 4/5. Diademed, draped bust of Demetrius I right, seen from side, wearing headdress composed of elephant head, ears, trunk, and tusks; dotted border / BAΣIΛEΩΣ / ΔHMHTPIOY, Heracles standing facing, nude, crowning himself with wreath in right hand, club cradled in left arm and draped with lion skin; KP monogram to inner left. Bopearachchi 1B. HGC 12, 63. Pleasant cornflower toning on a handsome portrait.

From the Tamco Collection.

The unusual elephant headdress worn by Demetrius on this tetradrachm recalls the similar headgear sported by Alexander the Great on early coins of Ptolemaic Egypt, referring to his conquests in northern India. Demetrius also campaigned in India while serving a long apprenticeship under his father, Euthydemus I, as recorded on a dedicatory stone recently discovered north of Ai Khanoum in Afghanistan. After succeeding to the throne, he launched an invasion of northern India that extended Greek control into modern Pakistan. The historian Strabo claims "more tribes were subdued by [Demetrius] than Alexander."

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