• Denomination: Drachm
• Date: 180 - 160 BC
• Ruler: Apollodotos I Soter
• Kingdom: Indo-Greek / Greco-Baktrian Kingdom
• Coin Metal: Silver
• Bezel Metal: 14K Gold
• Obverse (Front): Greek legend, Elephant standing right, monogram below
• Reverse (Back): Indic Kharosthi legend, Zebu bull standing right, monogram below
• Articulating Bail Interior Diameter: Will accommodate necklace up to 6 mm
• Pendant Size Including the Bezel (Setting): 3/4” Across, 1” Tall - Slightly Smaller than the Width of a U.S. Nickel

April's Notes: This ancient silver drachm has everything I love in an ancient coin – powerful animal imagery, that deep, sculptural strike that gives Greek coinage such presence even at a small size – and something extra… that surprising square shape that sets it apart from most coins. 

But what makes this treasure coin truly extraordinary is that it speaks in two languages: the royal language of Greece and the daily language of the Indian frontier. That makes it so much more than an ancient elephant coin. It truly is a gleaming silver ambassador from one of history’s great crossroads — Greek, Indian, practical, royal, and completely captivating.

(Please note: this information and much more will appear on your customized Certificate of Authenticity.)

Why This Coin Matters

This remarkable silver Drachm was struck by Apollodotos I Soter, an early Indo-Greek king who ruled in the lands where the Hellenistic world met ancient India. Small, square, and wonderfully distinctive, it features one of the most beloved images in ancient coinage: a standing elephant, powerful yet calm, surrounded by the marks of royal authority.

On the opposite side appears a humped zebu bull, another deeply local image from the Indian world representing security and strength. Together, the elephant and bull make this coin instantly recognizable — not merely as a Greek coin found far from Greece, but as a bilingual ambassador from one of the great cultural crossroads of antiquity.

A Coin at the Crossroads of History

Apollodotos I ruled in a world shaped by movement: armies, merchants, languages, scripts, religions, and artistic traditions all meeting across the lands between Bactria, Afghanistan, Gandhara, and northwestern India.

This was not a remote edge of civilization. It was a meeting place. Mountain passes connected Central Asia with the Indus Valley. Farmers, herders, soldiers, artisans, scribes, merchants, and royal officials lived and worked in a region shaped by Persian empire, Alexander’s eastern campaigns, Hellenistic kingdoms, and local Indian traditions.

The coinage of Apollodotos reflects that layered world beautifully. One side carries a Greek royal inscription, proclaiming the king in the language of Hellenistic authority. The other uses Kharosthi, an Indic script understood in the northwestern Indian world. The imagery speaks the same blended language: an elephant and zebu bull, local animals with strong cultural meaning, placed on a coin issued by a Greek-named king.

Your Ancient Indo-Greek Coin Necklace comes with: