Triton XIX, Lot: 2135. Estimate $5000. Sold for $5500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

INDIA, Kushan Empire. Huvishka. Circa AD 151-190. AV Dinar (23mm, 8.00 g, 12h). Subsidiary mint in Gandhara (Peshawar?). Late phase. ÞαOHαHOÞαO OO HÞHÞ[I] OÞα[HO], diademed and crowned half-length bust left on clouds or mountain, holding mace-scepter in right hand and spear in left / ÞαOPHO[PO], Shaoreoro (Ares-Mars) standing right, holding spear and shield set on ground; tamgha to right. ANS Kushan 770 corr. (Göbl reference – this coin); MK 342/382 (obv./rev.); Donum Burns –; CNG 100, lot 1686 (same dies). EF.

From the collection of Dr. Lawrence A. Adams, purchased from Hakim Hamidi (Persic Gallery), November 1989.

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.