INDO-PARTHIAN, Gondophares-Sases, c.35-55 AD, billon tetradrachm

DescriptionThe people we call the Indo-Parthians were a group of Scythians who did their marauding in western Afghanistan and parts north and west of the “Indo-Scythians.” They were Parthian vassals for a while, and adopted Parthian characteristics for their coinage.The earliest ancient Indian coins were the “bent bar” punchmarked silvers of the Achaemenid Persians occupying Gandhara in northwest Pakistan. By the 3rd century BC coins were in general use in most of India and Ceylon, and in subsequent centuries struck round coins in gold, silver, and copper came into use throughout the subcontinent and beyond to Southeast Asia and Pacific islands to Java and beyond.