velarfricative

Have you considered bidding at SARC?

There's a great reference for Kushan coins, though it's a bit expensive; "Kushan, Kushano-sasanian, and Kidarite Coins: A Catalogue of Coins from the American Numismatic Society". The forthcoming BM catalogue will be even better, but I have no idea when that will release. For specifically Kushano-Sasanian coins, Joe Cribb's article is available for free online; it's a bit older but as far as I know still fairly up-to-date. Your first coin does not depict a subordinate ruler; there are other investiture scene types that do identify it as a deity. In this earlier type, the deity is identified as Lady Anahita; there is a dinar as well, which shows up very rarely. As for your second coin, it is an issue of Peroz I Kushanshah; there are no other rulers who issued coins with that combination of obverse and reverse. The complete legend reads ΠΙΡΩΖΟ ΟΟΖΟΡΚΟ ΚΟϷΑΝΟ ϷΟΥΟ, with ΟΟΡΖΑΟΑΝΔΟ ΙΑΖΑΔΟ on the reverse.

An update, with a new Lysias; this time, with a helmet. They only get scarcer from here; the diademed bust is very hard to find, and the bust wearing a kausia is nearly impossible to get without spending upwards of 2k.

With regard to #1 and #2, I'm not sure I would call multilingual information extraction "not the most complex". Unless you intend to exclude all non-English auction houses, that is.

All of these uniface types are unpublished. Auction houses usually give a smattering of references to Senior, who lists early Indo-Scythian coinage, but none of it is really close to these.

Looks like a posthumous Indo-Scythian Eukratides issue; those are much harder to find, I think, and this is a nice example.

https://cngcoins.com/Lot.aspx?LOT_ID=53548&BACK_URL=%2fLots.aspx%3fIS_ADVANCED%3d1%26ITEM_IS_SOLD%3d1%26ITEM_DESC%3delectrotype%26SEARCH_IN_CONTAINER_TYPE_ID_1%3d1%26SEARCH_IN_CONTAINER_TYPE_ID_2%3d1%26SEARCH_IN_CONTAINER_TYPE_ID_3%3d1%26SEARCH_IN_CONTAINER_TYPE_ID_4%3d1%26TABS_TYPE%3d3%26CONTAINER_NAME%3d%26CONTAINER_TYPE_ID%3d3%26VIEW_TYPE%3d0%26MAX_COUNT%3d10000%26PAGE%3d1 This is an electrotype of a medallion whose whereabouts are no longer known; should we go on and melt it down because new collectors might not read the description of the coin they're bidding on? I think not, there's a lot of value in electrotypes providing a means for collectors to buy coins they could never afford, in grades that perhaps only can be found in a museum if anywhere.

Curiously on these, the Kharosthi legend is actually "maharajasa avadagashasa tratarasa"; the "tra" in "tratarasa" appears to be visible on your example. I do think you're right about the round letter forms indicating that this is Abdagases, though it's a shame about the names being off the flan.

From the auction house: "Thank you very much for notifying us about this. It is quite disturbing to learn about the origin of those coins. We have taken immediate action and will hand the coins over to the authorities." A very respectable and prompt response from them, and looks like they've already been withdrawn.

Recently, while double-checking some coins at Oslo Myntgalleri to verify authenticity, it came to my attention that several of the coins at the upcoming auction are plate coins in "Le Tresor Monetaire de Qunduz". https://www.numisbids.com/n.php?p=lot&sid=6221&lot=1051 , https://www.numisbids.com/n.php?p=lot&sid=6221&lot=1052, https://www.numisbids.com/n.php?p=lot&sid=6221&lot=1054 For those who are unaware, all of the coins published in that book were stolen from the Kabul museum in the early 90s, and are certainly not legal to own. Anybody have any idea who I should be contacting to make sure these should be getting back to their proper owners?

Here's a Maues type; this example is a plate coin from Mitchiner's work in the 70s.

It actually went quite cheaply, but I woke up far too late to bid myself, unfortunately. Kunker's estimates are very misleading, this is an expensive type.

Kunker went just fine for me, the Kushan section was absurdly cheap, around the level of early 2000s prices. I picked up a Vasishka myself. Though, with this photo, I have no idea what it'll look like in hand!

There's been an unpublished coin floating around for a while now that had gotten me curious; I was suspicious of its authenticity but it can often be difficult to determine when unpublished coins surface. They have been attributed to Eukratides, on account of the monogram also being present on many of his staters. All examples shared the same dies, and many seemed to have odd dots and marks at the edge of the flan. Attached are a couple examples: Recently, however, an example showed up that gave a little bit more info, at a German auction house. Astute observers will see the problem; below the monogram on the reverse is actually a Kharosthi letter, 𐨯 (sa), which is found often on Indo-greek coins, but never on a Eukratides stater! So, what's going on? In fact, there is one coin many of you are familiar with that also has this monogram: Menander! The reverse is actually a small portion of a transfer die, taken from a Menander drachm; above are a couple examples of the portion of the coin that was used for the reverse here. Visible on the German specimen are also a portion of Athena's dress and another Kharosthi sa, confirming the source. I haven't found the host coin yet, but with the distinctive damage marks on the monogram it would be easy to spot if it turns up. I haven't identified the horse yet, but I would love to know where he comes from; it looks like there's traces of a legend there, too, so perhaps someone more observant than me can find it. Watch out, bidders! There are some very creative forgers out there.

Very nice, quite a few of these have been hitting the market lately! My own most recent from Baktria, but a drachm and not a tetradrachm.

The outcomes of the analysis seem to be summarized in this chart Joe Cribb published on Academia: https://www.academia.edu/15209190/The_Soter_Megas_coins_of_the_first_and_second_Kushan_kings_Kujula_Kadphises_and_Wima_Takto Unfortunately, though, to the best of my knowledge the accompanying paper is not online. At the very least, the final page has a fantastic summary of the state of the monetary system in the region over the course of the early Kushan rulers.

It's extremely unlikely, I would think; it contradicts the sources we have, at least. The Chinese account of the rise of the Kushan reads: "Qiujiuque [Kujula Kadphises] was more than eighty years old when he died. His son, Yangaozhen, became king in his place. He defeated Tianzhu [North-western India] and installed Generals to supervise and lead it." The Rabatak inscription also seems to indicate a fairly standard succession.

From the ANS catalogue, coins with a 4-pronged tamgha on either or both sides have either 10, 12, or 13 rays. Nearly all are on issues with the square lettering style, though there are examples with 4 prongs on both sides with cursive lettering.

I cannot comment on the letter styles, and that may indicate mints; but as for prongs, it's at least plausible that it indicates ruler. Small modifications to the tamgha on the ascension of a new king are standard for all rulers until Vasudeva; the only difference between Kanishka and Huvishka's tamgha is a single crossbar, for instance. The argument would be something along the lines that Kujula Kadphises' tamgha was the 4-pronged one, and Vima's is the 3-pronged one; the mixed issues with both 3- and 4-pronged tamghas could be explained away as transitional. A mix like that would not be unprecedented; early issues of Huvishka use Kanishka's tamgha before eventually switching over.

Very nice selection, the 4-pronged examples are hard to find. I believe there is some recent work claiming that examples with 4 prongs are issues of Kujula Kadphises; as far as I know the argument for that remains unpublished, though, so for now I just consider them all issues of Vima Takto myself.

I don't think we have an Indo-Parthian thread, perfect time to start one. I'll show off the 3 main types you're likely to encounter: The Bust/Nike type, with a generally well-executed bust on the obverse. This one is an issue of Pakores, fairly common but usually low grade Coins with the same style as Indo-Scythian coinage; these always feature the "Gondopharid" tamgha, with a horse rider facing right or left, and one of several deities on the reverse. This is an issue of Abdagases, with a slightly debased obverse legend. And Bust/Athena issues, continuing the same style as the Indo-Greeks. This is an issue of Gondophares; many kings issued these coins, but they're generally very poorly struck and barely legible so it's often difficult to attribute them. There are also silver issues, but they're much more expensive and I haven't gotten one yet. Anyone else have any good Indo-Parthian? Post 'em here.

They have a very nice selection of Menander owl drachms, don't see these too often: https://numismatics.org/bigr/id/bigr.menander_i.3

Just a part of the industry, unfortunately. I saw one drachm go from a vcoins store to 3 different auction houses in quick succession, starting out on sale for $500 and ending at the last auction house at $2400 with BP.

At this point, I assume it will take a month to ship and am pleasantly surprised when it's any faster. It is what it is, at least they get good coins. Won this HGC plate coin at their last sale

With coins like these, the date ranges aren't particularly meaningful, though it's probably somewhere in the ballpark of what you have listed. Coins in the name of Hermaios were issued from around 100 BC to the mid 1st century AD or later during the reign of Kujula Kadphises, though this one certainly falls on the earlier part of that range. The Senior book is probably the only place you'll get a detailed treatment of this, outside of that is Mitchiner's book from the 70s which is very out-of-date and Bopearachchi's book which is in French. Coinindia has a bunch listed, which is probably close to what you're looking for.