MENANDER I Soter 155BC Ancient India Area Indo Greek Coin ELEPHANT CLUB i98544

$1,497.00 $1,347.30

Availability: 1 in stock

SKU: i98544 Category:

Item: i98544

Authentic Ancient Coin of:

Indo Greek Kingdom in India
Menander I, Soter – King circa 155-130 B.C.

Bronze Light Quadrangular Chalkous 15mm 
x 13mm (3.00 grams) Uncertain mint in the Paropamisadai or Gandhara
Reference: HGC 12, 197; SNG Ans 923
ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΣΩΤΗΡΟΣ MENANΔPOY “Of Saviour King Menander”, Elephant head right.
Karosthi legend, (Maharajasa tratarasa Menamdrasa [of Great King Menander the Savior]), Club of Hercules.

This king was famous in Buddhist narrative as king “Milinda”, who was said to have been a convert to Buddhism after debating philosophical points with the sage Nagasena. Perhaps the best-known of the Indo-Greek kings, Menander was appointed by Eukratides to rule the areas south of the Hindu Kush. His colleages in this task were Apollodotos and, later, Zoilos. According to Buddhist tradition, in which he is named Milinda, Menander was a just and powerful ruler and a convert to Buddhism.

You are bidding on the exact item pictured, provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of Authenticity.


Menander I Soter (“Menander I the Saviour”; known in Indian Pali sources as Milinda) was an Indo-Greek King of the Indo-Greek Kingdom (165/155 -130 BC) who administered a large empire in the Northwestern regions of the Indian Subcontinent from his capital at Sagala. Menander is noted for having become a patron of Buddhism.

Menander was initially a king of Bactria. After conquering the Punjab he established an empire in the Indian Subcontinent stretching from the Kabul River valley in the west to the Ravi River in the east, and from the Swat River valley in the north to Arachosia (the Helmand Province). Ancient Indian writers indicate that he launched expeditions southward into Rajasthan and as far east down the Ganges River Valley as Pataliputra (Patna), and the Greek geographer Strabo wrote that he “conquered more tribes than Alexander the Great.”

Large numbers of Menander’s coins have been unearthed, attesting to both the flourishing commerce and duration of his realm. Menander was also a patron of Buddhism, and his conversations with the Buddhist sage Nagasena are recorded in the important Buddhist work, the Milinda Panha (“The Questions of King Milinda”; panha meaning “question” in Pali). After his death in 130 BC, he was succeeded by his wife Agathokleia who ruled as regent for his son Strato I. Buddhist tradition relates that he handed over his kingdom to his son and retired from the world, but Plutarch relates that he died in camp while on a military campaign, and that his remains were divided equally between the cities to be enshrined in monuments, probably stupas, across his realm.


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Mr. Ilya Zlobin, world-renowned expert numismatist, enthusiast, author and dealer in authentic ancient Greek, ancient Roman, ancient Byzantine, world coins & more.
Mr. Ilya Zlobin, world-renowned expert numismatist, enthusiast, author and dealer in authentic ancient Greek, ancient Roman, ancient Byzantine, world coins & more.

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YEAR

155 BC

COUNTRY/REGION OF MANUFACTURE

India

CERTIFICATION

Uncertified

CULTURE

Greek

COIN TYPE

Ancient

DENOMINATION

AE13

ERA

Ancient

MPN

India Uncertified e80ba914-d8dd-4

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