Malwa, Vijayamitra, Alloyed Copper, 7.37g, Obv: Hellenic bust facing right, wearing diadem, Brahmi legend “Vijayamita…” to right, Rev: Three arched hill surmounted by crescent, Swastikas in arches and crescent, countermarked by an ‘open cross’ symbol. Extremely fine for type, exceedingly rare. An extremely rare and historically significant type of coins of ancient Malwa, the bust on the obverse bears a very close resemblance to the portraits of Indo Greek rulers Antialkidas and Archebios. This is interesting because we know that an ambassador of ‘king Antialkidas of Taxila’ visited Malwa in mid-2nd century BC, and left an inscription on the famous ‘Heliodorus Pillar’ at Vidisha. This suggests close links between rulers of Malwa and Gandhara and a possible explanation for the adoption of this purely Hellenistic coin motif on a Malwa coin. We do not know who ‘Vijayamitra’ was, but there are other Malwa coins with legend ‘Vejayike’ known and in all probability, ‘Vijayika’ was a city founded by Vijayamitra. The counter stamp on the reverse suggests that the coin was re-introduced into circulation at a later date.