GREEK KINGS of BAKTRIA. Diodotos I, as Satrap under Antiochos II of Syria. Circa 255-235 BC. AV Stater (19mm, 8.29 gm). Attic standard. Diademed head of Diodotos I right / Zeus advancing left, brandishing thunderbolt, aegis on outstretched arm; eagle and N before. Holt Series A, Group 7; Bopearachchi Série 5B; SNG ANS -; MIG 63a. EF. Very rare, possibly the third known example.
The sole published example of this type of stater with the aged portrait of Diodotos I and control mark N in the left field resides in the British Museum. It is an example from the Oxus treasure, and all references point to that specimen. G. K. Jenkins believed this piece to be a forgery, based on die links to known forgeries (see Jenkins, "A group of Bactrian forgeries," RN 1966). He noted, however, that the possiblilty remains that the coin could be genuine, but without proof to contradict or explain the die-link evidence, he concluded otherwise. Since that time, at least two others have come to market, the present specimen and another which appeared as lot 1099 in CNG 60 (22 May 2002). They are perfectly genuine in appearance, and all three of these coins are struck from different dies. The CNG 60 coin even had a test cut on the obverse, so prevalent in early Bactrian staters. Thus, this issue of Bactrian coins are certainly genuine, and the forgeries were probably made with dies created from an authentic coin (not uncommon in forgeries) of this issue.
