139, Lot: 159. Estimate $300. Sold for $180. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

INDIA, Kushan Empire. Huvishka I. Circa AD 152-192. Æ 25mm (11.24 g). Huvishka riding an elephant right, holding trident and elephant goad / Eraklio (Herakles) standing left, holding club and uncertain object; tamgha to left. MK 886. Near VF, brown patina.

This coin depicts the god Vajrapani, Buddha's protector, as Herakles, assimilated through Gandharan art via the Parthian representation of Verethragna as Herakles (see Errington and Cribbs, eds., The Crossroads of Asia: Transformation in Image