CNG 100, Lot: 1686. Estimate $5000. Sold for $4250. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

INDIA, Kushan Empire. Huvishka. Circa AD 151-190. AV Dinar (21mm, 7.99 g, 12h). Subsidiary mint in Gandhara (Peshawar?). Late phase. [ÞAO]HAHOÞAO OO HÞHÞI OÞAN[O], nimbate, diademed, and crowned half-length bust left on clouds, holding mace-scepter and spear / ÞαOPHO[PO], Shaoreoro (Ares-Mars) standing right, holding spear and shield set on ground; tamgha to right. MK 342/382 (obv./rev.); ANS Kushan 770 corr. (Göbl reference); Donum Burns –. Choice EF.

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.