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The coins presented here are somewhat controversial. While Bopearachchi classifies them all as issues of Strato II, Senior has
argued that they should be divided into Strato II and his son or grandson Strato III. The issues will be discussed in the context of the coins below. Either way, these are
often seen as the last of the Indo-Greek coins.
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Strato II (and possibly Strato III) |
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Strato II, Silver drachm
Weight: 2.11 gm. Diameter: 15 mm. Die axis: 12h
Diademed bust of king right,
Greek legend around: BAΣIΛEΩΣ ΣΩTHPOΣ / ΣTPATΩNOΣ
(Basileos Soteros Stratonos ... King Strato, the saviour)
Seen from behind, Athena Alkidemos standing left, holding aegis
on outstretched left arm, hurling thunderbolt with right hand, monogram at right,
Kharoshthi legend around: maharajasa tratarasa / stratasa
Reference: MIG 468c, Bop 1E |
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Bopearachchi classifies this coin, with its young portrait, as the earliest issue of Strato II. Senior, on the other
hand, argues that it was issued after the next two drachms and was an issue of Strato III. He had two main arguments. The first was that, in a hoard of coins published by
Mitchiner, there were only these coins along with coins of Rajuvula (and one of Azes II), suggesting that these were the last issues before Rajuvula annexed the Indo-Greek
territories. However, as Bopearachchi rightly points out, the provenance of Mitchiner's hoard is unknown and it could well be that there were other coins in the actual hoard that
were removed before Mitchiner was able to study it. The second was that, in various hoards that came to the market at around the same time, and which Senior argued must
have actually been all from the same find, the coins in the best condition, and hence arguably the latest to be minted, were these coins with the young portrait. Once again,
however, it seems problematic to assume the composition of a hoard or hoards that are unprovenanced. Bopearachchi, using Joe Cribb's favorite dictum on such matters ("See
what the coins themselves tell you!"), notes that these coins display proper sigmas (written Σ), while the joint coins (the third drachm on this page) display lunate sigmas
(written C), a much surer sign that the joint coins were the last issues. The last drachm published below may add to this discussion by providing an example of a coin of Strato
III that is different from the ones Senior has proposed assigning to that king.
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Strato II, Silver drachm
Weight: 2.29 gm. Diameter: 17 mm. Die axis: 12h
Diademed bust of king right,
Greek legend around: BAΣIΛEΩΣ ΣΩTHPOΣ / ΣTPATΩNOΣ
(Basileos Soteros Stratonos ... King Strato, the saviour)
Seen from behind, Athena Alkidemos standing left, holding aegis
on outstretched left arm, hurling thunderbolt with right hand, monogram at right,
Kharoshthi legend around: maharajasa tratarasa / stratasa
Reference: MIG 469c, Bop 2A |
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This type, with the more middle-aged portrait of the king, was thought by Senior to be the first issue of Strato II,
but the intermediate issue by Bopearachchi.
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Strato II with Strato III, Silver drachm
Weight: 2.31 gm. Diameter: 15 mm. Die axis: 12h
Diademed bust of aged king right,
Greek legend around: BACIΛEΩC CΩTHPOC CTPATΩNOC KAI ΦIΛ / CTPATΩNOC
(Basileos Soteros Stratonos kai phil Stratonos ... King Strato, the saviour, and lover Strato)
Seen from behind, Athena Alkidemos standing left, holding aegis
on outstretched left arm, hurling thunderbolt with right hand, monogram at right,
Kharoshthi legend around: maharajasa tratarasa stratasa putrasa casa priyapita / stratasa
Reference: MIG 473a, Bop 6A |
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This type, with the portrait of the aged king, and with the longer legend mentioning another Strato, is agreed
by both Bopearachchi and Senior to represent the last issues of Strato II, who was presumably ruling jointly with Strato III. The exact relationship between the two
Stratos is not entirely clear because of the odd Kharoshthi legend on the reverse; it can be interpreted to indicate he was the son or the grandson of Strato II. Note the
use of C instead of Σ on this coin, the main reason why Bopearachchi thinks it is later in time than the first coin above, which Senior assigned to Strato III. See
below (the last drachm) for a coin type that I believe may truly be an issue of Strato III.
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Strato II with Strato III, Silver drachm
Weight: 2.15 gm. Diameter: 15 mm. Die axis: 2h
Diademed bust of aged king right,
Greek legend around: BACIΛEΩC CΩTHPOC CTPATΩNOC KAI ΦIΛ / CTPATΩNOC
(Basileos Soteros Stratonos kai phil Stratonos ... King Strato, the saviour, and his son, Strato)
Seen from behind, Athena Alkidemos standing left, holding aegis
on outstretched left arm, hurling thunderbolt with right hand, monogram at right,
Kharoshthi legend around: maharajasa tratarasa stratasa putrasa casa priyapita / stratasa
Reference: MIG 473a, Bop 6A |
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Strato II with Strato III, Silver drachm
Weight: 2.21 gm. Diameter: 14 mm. Die axis: 12h
Diademed bust of aged king right,
Greek legend around: BACIΛEΩC CΩTHPOC CTPATΩNOC KAI ΦIΛ / CTPATΩNOC
(Basileos Soteros Stratonos kai phil Stratonos ... King Strato, the saviour, and his son, Strato)
Seen from behind, Athena Alkidemos standing left, holding aegis
on outstretched left arm, hurling thunderbolt with right hand, monogram at right,
Kharoshthi legend around: maharajasa tratarasa stratasa putrasa casa priyapita / stratasa
Reference: MIG 473a, Bop 6A |
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Strato II with Strato III, Silver drachm
Weight: 1.99 gm. Diameter: 15 mm. Die axis: 1h
Diademed bust of aged king right,
Greek legend around: BACIΛEΩC CΩTHPOC CTPATΩNOC KAI ΦIΛ / CTPATΩNOC
(Basileos Soteros Stratonos kai phil Stratonos ... King Strato, the saviour, and his son, Strato)
Seen from behind, Athena Alkidemos standing left, holding aegis
on outstretched left arm, hurling thunderbolt with right hand, monogram at right,
Kharoshthi legend around: maharajasa tratarasa stratasa putrasa casa priyapita / stratasa
Reference: MIG 473c, Bop 6E |
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Strato III ?, Silver drachm
Weight: 1.78 gm. Diameter: 17-19 mm. Die axis: 1h
Diademed bust of king right,
blundered (unintelligible) Greek legend around
Seen from behind, Athena Alkidemos standing left, holding aegis
on outstretched left arm, hurling thunderbolt with right hand, monogram at right,
Kharoshthi legend around: maharajasa tratarasa / dhramikasa stratasa
Reference: MIG ---, Bop --- |
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If Bopearachchi is correct, we do not yet know of any solo coins of Strato III. This may be one. It is a new
type, published first by Senior, with a blundered, unintelligible Greek legend. The Kharoshthi legend, from 7 to 1 o'clock, reads maharajasa tratarasa; it then
reverses direction to read, from 8 to 11 o'clock dhramikasa stratasa. No coin of Strato II used the dhramikasa title and it seems plausible therefore to
assign this to a different ruler. Strato III is the logical choice. The monogram was used by Strato II, Bhadrayasha and Rajuvula, so this coin would fit nicely into the
sequence. Senior had argued that Strato Dikaios must have issued his coins before Strato II, but this seems hardly possible, given the crudity of the execution and
the blundered legend. There also exist a few rare drachms with as yet unread (possibly blundered) Greek legends and a Kharoshthi legend that reads maharajasa
tratarasa / priyapita stratasa. These coins are very similar in style to the dhramikasa coin shown here and share with it a highly unusual feature, that the
last epithet of the king is carved in the same orientation as the king's name. All other Indo-Greek coins have all the titles and epithets running counter-clockwise and
only the king's name running clockwise. But these coins put the last epithet, respectively dhramikasa and priyapita, to run clockwise along with the
king's name. I suspect they are both issues of Strato III, who was mentioned in Strato II's late coinage with the epithet priyapita.
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Strato II, AE obol or octuple unit
Weight: 15.09 gm. Dimensions: 24 x 23 mm. Die axis: 12h
Apollo standing three-quarters right, holding bow, monogram at left,
Greek legend around: BAΣIΛEΩΣ / ΣΩTHPOΣ / ΣTPATΩNOΣ
(Basileos Soteros Stratonos ... King Strato, the saviour)
Tripod, flanked by Kharoshthi letters,
Kharoshthi legend around: maharajasa / tratarasa / stratasa
Reference: MIG ---, Bop --- |
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This unlisted type was published by Senior and appears to be the first known copper coin of Strato II. A
hemi-obol or quadruple unit also exists. Bopearachchi and Mitchiner list only lead coins as his base metal coinage, but this coin is clearly made of copper (or bronze)
and the monogram makes it obvious that it could not be an issue of Strato I. The design copies those of Apollodotus II and Zoilus II.
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Strato II, Lead hemi-obol or quadruple unit
Weight: 8.75 gm. Diameter: 20 mm. Die axis: 1h
Apollo standing three-quarters right, holding bow,
Greek legend around: BAΣIΛEΩΣ ΣΩTHPOΣ / ΣTPATΩNOΣ
(Basileos Soteros Stratonos ... King Strato, the saviour)
Tripod, Kharoshthi letter at right,
Kharoshthi legend around: maharajasa tratarasa / stratasa
Reference: MIG 470b, Bop 3A |
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