Taasob, Razieh. 2026. Reassessing the Lifespan of the Heraios Coinage: Insights into the First Kushan Ruler’s Enigmatic Tetradrachms. In: Merle Eisenberg, Lee Mordechai & David Yoon (eds.), Coins and Money in the Middle Ages Studies in Honor of Alan Stahl (Numismatic Studies 50), 123-141. New York: The American Numismatic Society.
The attribution and chronology of Heraios coinage, often linked to the early Kushan ruler Kujula Kadphises, have long been points of scholarly debate. Initial studies concentrated on deciphering inscriptions, while later research, particularly Cribb’s 1993 study, argued for a connection between these coins and Kujula Kadphises during the first century AD. However, unresolved issues, including die variations and issuing sequences, have kept the topic open for scholarly discussion. In this paper, I examine in particular the lifespan of Heraios tetradrachms by analyzing die features, such as royal portraits, facial details, reverse motifs, and the degradation of inscriptions, to proposes a lifespan of approximately thirty years for the Heraios coinage, aligning with the early phase of Kushan period. Using a methodology based on detailed typological, denominational, and metallurgical studies, I compare the Heraios series to the Hermaios posthumous coinage, employing a model similar to Bopearachchi’s for understanding the degeneration process over time. This approach aims to provide new insights into the development of the coinage system in the north of the Hindu Kush during the early Kushan period, revealing how local Yuezhi rulers contributed to its development.