Sale: CNG 66, Lot: 917. Estimate $200.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 19 May 2004.  Sold For $265. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

HEPHTHALITES. Baktria or Sogdiana. Circa 680-720 AD. AR Drachm (2.81 gm). Imitating Sasanian king Peroz. Crowned bust right resembling Peroz; Baktrian legend and two tribal symbols in margins, countermark: head left, wearing cap / Fire altar flanked by attendants, crescent and star above; two countermarks: head facing left and combined camel/elephant head. Göbl, Hunnen 289, with c/ms 12, 72, 73; Alram -; cf. MACW 1466. VF, original hoard patina. ($200)

Both Göbl and Walker in their lists of Hephthalite countermarks list c/m 12 as a reclining Baktrian camel. On the two pieces offered here, it is very clear that the symbol is composed of two animals, with the hump of the camel forming the head of an elephant.