Modern Afghan banknotes bear a reproduction of the Eucratides, the heaviest ancient gold coin ever discovered, minted under the Greek kings who ruled the region

Around the Dioscuri one can still read the inscription BAΣIΛEΩΣ MEΓAΛOY EYKRATIΔOY, that is, "of the Great King Eucratides", ruler of Bactria in 171–145 BC.

The Greco-Bactrian king ruled territories that included present-day Afghanistan, in the Hellenistic kingdom that arose from the conquests of Alexander the Great.

Since the 1930s the Central Bank of Afghanistan has used the image of the gold coin of King Eucratides as a seal on its banknotes.

As for the coin itself, it weighs 169.2 grams and measures 58 mm in diameter.

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Modern Afghan banknotes bear a reproduction of the Eucratides, the heaviest ancient gold coin ever discovered, minted under the Greek kings who ruled the region

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At the close of the Strugatskys' "Roadside Picnic" the Golden Sphere is asked for this: "Happiness for everybody, free, and let nobody go away unsatisfied!" I do not promise to leave no one aggrieved, but the digest really does come free

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