CNG 100, Lot: 1681. Estimate $5000. Sold for $8500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

INDIA, Kushan Empire. Huvishka. Circa AD 151-190. AV Dinar (20mm, 7.86 g, 12h). Main mint in Baktria (Balkh?). Early phase. ÞAO(retrograde h)A(retrograde h)OÞAO O OhÞKI KOÞA(retrograde h)O, diademed, and crowned half-length bust left on clouds, holding mace-scepter and goad / MααCh(retrograde h)O, Maaseno, nimbate and crowned, standing facing, holding bird-tipped and filleted scepter in right hand, left hand on hilt of sword; tamgha to left. MK 298 (O31/R3); ANS Kushan 709; Donum Burns 271. Choice EF, faint deposits.

Maaseno was the Kushan incarnation of the Hindu god Karttikeya, or Skanda, whose epithet was Mahasena. A particularly important deity to Yaudheyas, with his cult center at the Yaudheya capital of Rohitaka, it is highly probable that he entered the Kushan pantheon as a result of Kushan expansion into the territory of the Yaudheyas.