One of my hobbies is collecting ancient coins. After the Taliban gained control of Afghanistan, ancient Bactrian coins started becoming more common. Some of the Hellenistic Bactrian tetradrachmas are of exquisite beauty and extremely well crafted. The quality of Bactrian coins on the open market kept getting better as the price dropped. There were some coins that over a decade ago went for $50,000 that went for about $1,000 a couple years ago. However, after the U.S. launched its attack against the Taliban, the Bactrian coins started to disappear. The coin dealers told me that most of these Bactrian coins were looted from museums by the Taliban.

Islamic fundamentalists tend to dismiss all pre-islamic culture as "pagan" and essentially worthless. They don't like objects with human images on it. They are particularly displeased by antiquities that refer to ancient gods, e.g. Apollo. That's how the savages justified destroying those ancient Buddhist statues. I own a Bactrian coin that was struck under King Menander and bears his portrait. King Menander lived over 2 thousand years ago and was descended from one of Alexander the Great's soldiers. Menander was an early convert to Buddhism (he was to Buddhism what the Emperor Constantine was to Christianity). Google: "Menander Bactria", you'll find it interesting.

Gary