Shaoreoro - Genius of Kushan Imperial Might

Sale: CNG 76, Lot: 962. Estimate $3000.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 12 September 2007.  Sold For $3220. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

INDIA, Kushan Empire. Huvishka. Circa AD 152-192. AV Dinar (7.99 g, 12h). Mint I (A). 3rd emission. Nimbate, diademed, and crowned half-length bust of Huvishka facing on clouds, head left, flames at shoulders, holding mace-scepter and filleted spear over shoulder; [pellet on cheek] / PAOPhOPO, Shaoreoro (Ares-Mars) standing facing, head right, holding spear in right hand, and shield set on ground in left; tamgha to left. MK 226/1 (O1/R3). Good VF, struck with slightly rusty dies, slight double strike on obverse. Rare.

Shaoreoro, like the later Pahlavi Shahrevar, was originally the Hindu Kshathra Vairya, or “Desirable Kingdom.” Like Indra, the chief god of the Rig Veda, Shaoreoro was the genius of Kushan imperial might and the god of the molten metal that was to cover the earth on the Last Day.