Indo Greek Coins
Indo Greek Coins
From 180 BC to roughly 10 AD, the Indo-Greeks ruled. The Indo-Greeks popularised the practise of depicting the ruler’s buster head on coins.
Legends on their Indian coins were written in two languages: Greek on one side and Kharosthi on the other. Zeus, Hercules, Apollo, and Pallas Athene were among the Greek gods and goddesses depicted on Indo-Greek coins.
The first series of coins featured Greek gods, while later coins had Indian gods as well.
These coins were notable because they included precise information on the issuing monarch, the year of release, and occasionally a portrait of the ruling monarch.
Silver, copper, nickel, and lead were the most common metals used in coins.
The coins of the Greek kings in India were multilingual, with the front side printed in Greek and the back in Pali (in Kharosthi script).
Later, Indo-Greek Kushan kings brought the Greek practice of etching portrait heads on coins to India.
On one side, a helmeted bust of the monarch was depicted, and on the reverse, the king’s favorite deity.
