Sale: CNG 82, Lot: 771. Estimate $750.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 16 September 2009.  Sold For $2690. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

BAKTRIA, Greco-Baktrian Kingdom. Diodotos II. Circa 235-225 BC. AR Tetradrachm (16.82 g, 6h). Mint B ("Baktra"). Diademed head right / Zeus Bremetes advancing left; in inner left field, monogram above eagle standing left. Holt Series F, Group 7 var. (monogram); Bopearachchi Série 6F var. (same); SNG ANS -; MIG Type 74c. VF, obverse slightly off center. Attractive portrait. Rare.

Both Holt and Bopearachichi list a monogram that appears to be an combination of MY, with the lower bar of the Y extending downward from the middle of the M. This coin shows a similar monogram, but has an additional horizontal, or slightly curving, bar at the center of the M. While all references only list the former monogram, the plate coins used by many references actually show the latter (see, e.g., Bopearachichi pl. I, 13 and Kritt pl. 9, F7). It is uncertain whether these two monograms should be linked, but the stylistic considerations do suggest that they are merely varieties of the same monogram, and thus are attributable to the same mint and issue.