Mithradates i was largely responsible for the political expansion of parthia and so most recent studies are in agreement that the coins now to be described were. The discontinuation of this phrase signified the revival of iranian culture in parthia. This must be reserved for some future work on parthia where the necessity. Mithradates ii, ar drachm, 123 88 bce, sellwood 26. The crown is still the parthian cap with earflaps, but heavily bejewelled. Aug 26, 2014 notes on the chemical composition of parthian coins with special reference to the drachms of orodes i. The fall of the graecobactrians saka and indoparthians.
Oct 30, 2017 while i agree we all need to be careful and check reverses, i never thought of coins of persis being easy to confuse with parthians. The main difficulty in studying this period is the lack of firm sources. Parthian coins for sale the parthian empire was a middle persian dynasty which fell between the achaemenid and sassanian dynasties of persia iran. Catalogue of the coins of parthia forvm ancient coins. It was unearthed in february 1994 by some clandestine diggers in the ancient city of pushkalavati. An introduction to collecting parthian coins by robert l3.
Some remarks on the patterns of coin production in the parthian. An important contribution to the study of the coinage, with a catalogue of shores personal collection, which was subsequently sold at auction by cng in 1995. Help with id on a parthian coin coin community forum. All coins from the parthian empire, presented with pictures, descriptions and more useful information.
Bronze parthian coins, although quite varied and very collectible, are. Ancient eastern coins from parthian related issuers. Parthian sources online represents an effort to harness digital texts in order to help students of parthian history overcome the challenges posed by a disparate bibliography. Pdf some remarks on the arrangement of the parthian dark age. There is no parthian coinage in gold, since vononess. Ten dragons against rome 1993, classical numismatic group by fred b. Iscrizione del potere dellimpero partico sul rovescio di una moneta di pacoro i. Notes on the chemical composition of parthian coins with special. Composed mainly of debased silver coins the whole hoard was found in a very tightly corroded mass.
Chris hopkins pages on counterfeits of parthian coins, at. The limited amount of numismatic material these coin finds, now preserved in the nu on which this article is based certainly is not mismatic cabinet of the. Border of cape on neck and shoulders is bejewelled. The most of our knowledge about these kings is obtained from their coins. The larger coins were made for use in the west where they interfaced with greeks while the smaller and better silver drachms were probably the main coins in the bulk of the parthian lands. Descendants of alexanders general seleukos ruled persia after alexanders death. Bust faces right as on all coins of the sassanian dynasty. The word philhellene was inscribed on parthian coins until the reign of artabanus ii. In 238 bc arshak, king of the skythian parni tribe, overthrew the governor of parthia, and the parthians took over most of the seleukid realm during the next century. Welcome to parthian sources online, a digital collection of texts from the ancient parthian empire. I do note that parthian coins have been increasing in price in the 20 years i have been interested in them. Mithradates iii, a parthian king of media, killed his father phraates iii and was in turn killed by his brother orodes ii. Greek gods, fortresses, cornucopiae, kantharoi, horses, rams, elephants, camels, bulls, eagles, etc.
May 26, 2012 the larger coins were made for use in the west where they interfaced with greeks while the smaller and better silver drachms were probably the main coins in the bulk of the parthian lands. Sources in greek, latin, and parthian are available in the original and in english translation, with comprehensive vocabulary glosses provided for ease of reading. While i agree we all need to be careful and check reverses, i never thought of coins of persis being easy to confuse with parthians. Newell, the coinage of the parthians, in a survey of. Parthian coinage was produced within the domains of the parthian empire 247 bc 224 ad. Parthian related coins for sale buy parthian related coins.
The tetradrachm, which generally weighted around 16 g, was only minted in seleucia, first conquered by the parthians in 141 bc. Whereas the reverse design of the silver drachms was standardized throughout the series, the reverses of coins from the bronze denominations display a wide range of imagery. Psalter pahlavi has additional numbers for 2, 3, and 4 and omits the number. It was founded by mithridates the great in 171 bc and lasted for 400 years until its final demise at the hands of ardashir i, first sassanian persian king, between 206224 ad. Dates of local rulers who struck coins and the areas they controlled are difficult to determine, but it seems that. Indoparthian state was established in southeastern iran, sistan c. The coins struck by the parthians were mainly made of silver, with the main currencies being the drachm and tetradrachm.
The parthian coin identification will help to identify your parthia drachm based on david sellwood work an introduction to the coinage of parthia 1980. Parthian and inscriptional pahlavi build up numbers out of 1, 10, 20, 100, and. The arsacids were the ruling dynasty of parthia between the middle of the third century bc and ad 224. Coin of arsaces i of parthia with inscriptions in greek and aramaic. Premier parthian coins s0069 2177 parthian kingdom, mithradates ii. Catalogue of the coins of parthia internet archive. The parthian empire 247 bc 224 ad, also known as the arsacid empire was a major iranian political and cultural power in ancient iran and iraq. Dec 15, 2004 indo parthian dynasty they came after the indogreeks and the indoscythians and were, in turn, defeated by the kushans in the second half of the 1st. Notes on the chemical composition of parthian coins with special reference to the drachms of orodes i. There are a number of problems associated with attributing parthian coins. The introduction is followed by catalog of parthian coins pp 200860. Permission is granted to copy, distribute andor modify this document under the terms of the gnu free documentation license, version 1.
Dilmaghani plate 24 n o period of arsacid rule in iran is more challenging than the years between mithradates ii and orodes ii. Dec 16, 2017 indo parthian state was established in southeastern iran, sistan c. Pdf on jan 1, 2007, ruben vardanyan and others published some remarks on the arrangement of the parthian dark age coin series find, read and cite. The longprevailing narrative on the parthian state evolved around the notion of a structurally weak empire. The aim of this work is to study the chemical composition of some parthian coins to find any relation between the mines used for extraction of silver and the actual silver coins minted at that time. Compositional study of parthian silver coins using pixe technique. Over a thousand ancient coins of greek and roman origin have been assayed or analyzed, but only a few parthian coins have been so investigated. Site introduction if this is your first time using the site, start here. The end of the parthian dynasty in numcirc june 1990. Parthian sources online a collection of texts from the. To date their fate and that of the reinterred coins remain unknown. Coins tell the story of parthian empire financial tribune. Having fi nally sold the pieces they retuned to their village.
My copy was a stray buy on ebay along with couple other titles some time ago and it was about 8 cents per page for a. Parthia coins for sale buy parthia coins from the most. Parthian coins from margiana feel obliged to reconsider in brief the parthian sellwood, 34. Media in category coins of parthia the following 4 files are in this category, out of 4 total. Sylloge nummorum graecorum, denmark, the royal collection of coins and medals, danish national museum. Aug 26, 2014 like roman emperors, parthian kings loved to display their titles on coins. For example, until recently the parthian coins of the brit ish museum, were part of the greek collection and the catalogue of the coins of parthia, which was. Assar 2005, 3536 for the revised inception and termi.
This article provides some basic information about parthian coins, as well as some of the pros and cons of collecting them. Most parthian coins seen by collectors are silver drachms, and the vast majority of parthian drachms are struck on oval flans with the portrait perpendicular to the long axis. Parthian rule was asserted over various lands of eastern iran, present afghanistan and extending into india. My copy was a stray buy on ebay along with couple other titles some time ago and it was about 8 cents per page for a brand new shrinkwrapped hardcover, as far as i remember. The cambridge history of iran is an eightvolume survey of iranian history and culture, and its contribution to the civilisation of the world. Parthian coins for sale in the forum ancient coins shop. Coin of a parthian king, minted between 75 and 62 bc. Like roman emperors, parthian kings loved to display their titles on coins.
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