Hello The Fitzwilliam Museum has this nice coin which I think is every interesting and I'm interested if anyone has any information about it. Mandy
That's a drachm of Mithridates II (123 - 88 BC) struck at the Ecbatana mint late in his reign, at the height of the Parthian Empire. The seated archer on the reverse is surrounded by a Greek legend that means Arsaces the Great, King of Kings, God Manifest. Arsaces is the dynastic name of the rulers of Parthia. The exact reference standard would be Sellwood, the Coinage of Parthia, 28.3 You can also go to Parthia.com for more information about Parthian coins.
Parthian coins present several problems compared to other ancients. Few of the rulers actually placed their name on the coins but, instead, used the name Arsakes (founder of the dynasty). Many added epithets like 'brother lover' or 'great' allowing ID along with the portraits. As pointed out, this one is later in the reign since it has headgear while younger versions from the same king are bare headed. David Sellwood's An Introduction to the Coinage of Parthia is a great book on Parthian with line drawings and interesting text in hand drawn calligraphy (not typeset). A similar value can be obtained from Fred Shore's book Parthian Coins and History which has good photos but is not quite as complete as Sellwood (especially in the bronzes). Parthia.com is a great online resource but not the easiest to use. I even have a couple web pages on Parthian but they are really beginner grade. We don't know a lot about the Parthians since they were not into written history and the Romans were their enemies rarely having anything nice to say. Collectors call their common silver coins 'drachms' with larger 'tetradrachms' sometimes available. 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. I do note that Parthian coins have been increasing in price in the 20 years I have been interested in them. I believe this can be attributed to the Shore book which made it possible to collect them easily back in the 1990's when the book was in print. Now the book sells for more than most of the coins so I assume most people are getting their information from the web.
Although it's in french you can also have a look at this wonderful website : http://www.parthika.fr/ Q
Great writeup Doug. My only comments would be: 1. Yeah, the Sellwood book is brutal to read with that calligraphy, I absolutely hate it. 2. The Shore book, while easier to read, is wrong in many places where he deviated from Sellwood. 3. The scholarship has been moving fast in Parthian coins, adding many new rulers and changing attributions. I just sat through a presentation from the former curator of the National numismatic collection who works for the ANA now, and he said all references are out of date. They have added at least 3 new rulers since Shore. 4. I think the prices are going up for lack of new hoards found. I have not seen a hoard dispersal in 10 years really, save for a few groups of maybe 20 pieces. Lack of hoards is what I believe is driving up Parthian and Sassanid prices. The last Sassanid hoard was Hormizd II, and that was a few years ago already. Chris
You have to expect a few problems when studying a group whose ruler list includes 'Unknown King' and who did not see the need to put their names on the coins. I am more than a little unclear how we know some of the coins with different portraits are both the same ruler or how others are not just a change of style used by the old ruler. Collectors are so spoiled by Romans where major problems are several guys calling themselves Antoninus Pius.
Thank you for the background information. That said, why would you say that 123-88 BCE was the height of the Empire? This was more than a quarter of a century before Crassus's Roman legions were destroyed (in 53 BCE) by the Parthians at Carrhae. Not meaning to be provocative. Just wondering. guy
In defense of Parthia.com: If I remember correctly, it was originally created by Doug Mudd when he worked at the Smithsonian Institute several years ago. He has now been the curator of the ANA since 2004 and has not been able to update the site. guy
I'm not suggesting the empire went into decline immediately after this period -- simply that Mithradates II conquered new territory, and under his rule the Parthian Empire reached its largest size. There were other diplomatic and political accomplishments that made his rule something of a golden age for the Parthians.
This is news to me. I have always dealt with Edward C. D. Hopkins who last updated in 2011. There is a lot of great material and thousands of photos but it helps to know what you are looking for before you can find it in all that material.
Ancient Doug: You may be correct. I'll ask Doug Mudd next time I see him whether I got that wrong. BTW, your information on Parthia is a great source, too: http://dougsmith.ancients.info/parthar.html guy
Guy, tell Doug Mudd from me thanks for his presentation to the TCACC. I couldn't remember his name earlier, but he is who called in and gave the presentation to my club. Btw, I remember Chris Hopkins as the updater to parthia.com as well. I remember he used to participate on Moneta group a lot. Chris Freeman P.S. You can tell him I was the guy who asked about both the artistry of late Parthian issues as well as why the obverses of these were systemically struck low on the flan.
I agree. It was the height of the empire, like the Romans under Trajan. The Parthian "dark age' followed fairly soon after, and we don't have a lot of information as to what was happening there at the time.
Great information historical sites (with less numismatic information) about Parthia are these: This one was written by Douglass Mudd: http://www.americanhistory.si.edu/collections/numismatics/parthia/frames/parhom.htm A well-written site about Roman and Parthia at war: http://www.allempires.com/article/index.php?q=war_roman_parthian Guy
Ancient Doug: You are correct and I was confused. This is Doug Mudd's site he did while at the Smithsonion many years ago. http://www.americanhistory.si.edu/collections/numismatics/parthia/frames/parhom.htm He now works at the ANA in Colorado. guy
