Triton XVIII, Lot: 852. Estimate $5000. Sold for $4000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

INDIA, Kushan Empire. Huvishka. Circa AD 152-192. AV Dinar (20mm, 7.91 g, 12h). Mint I (A). 3rd emission. ÞαO(retrograde h)α[(retrograde h)O]ÞαO O[O h]ÞK[I] KOÞA(retrograde h)O, nimbate, diademed and crowned half-length bust of Huvishka left on clouds, flames at shoulders, holding mace-scepter in right hand and filleted spear in left / ÞαOPhOPO, Shaoreoro (Ares-Mars) standing left, holding spear in right hand, shield in left set on ground; tamgha to left. MK 239A (O1/R– [unlisted rev. die]); Donum Burns 254 (same obv. die). Near EF. Very 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.