Here are a couple of sasanians I picked up awhile ago. Hopefully they are I.D. correctly. Khusru I (Anushirwan) (531-579AD) AR Drachm O: Crowned bust right. R: Fire altar flanked by attendants; star and crescent flanking flames. 4.04g 30mm BYSh mint (Bishapur in Iran), dated year 42 (572 A.D.) Gobl SN II/2 Ohrmazd (Hormizd) IV (579-590 A.D.) AR Drachm O: Crowned bust right. R: Fire altar flanked by attendants; star and crescent flanking flames. WYHC mint (Weh-az-Amid-Kavad). Dated RY 11 (590 A.D.) 3.01g 27mm Göbl Type I/1
I feel lucky when I can convince myself of the mint and date readings on these. It makes a big difference where the weak spots in the strike fall.
I started collecting Sassanians when I was 15 years old, but sold them all ten years later when I was very poor. Now I started again, trying piecemeal to collect only the best coins (without spending fortunes). And of Xusro I I have an acceptable piece. Mint Ardashir Khurra (Firuzabad), year 22. Göbl 196.
Sweet OP-score my comic-book collecting friend!! (congrats on that winner) Ummm, as you probably know, I only have this one trusty steed ... => Sassanian Kingdom, Peroz I AR Drahm Curious? => did you like the new Batman vs Superman flick? ... amazingly, I live in a box and I haven't seen it yet (or STAR WARS, which I can pick-up on bluray this Tuesday => cha-ching!! ... my 60" plasma has been asking about it for months!!)
Nice and interesting examples Mat!!! Cool posts guys!!! I only have a couple of the general type and do not begin to pretend I can properly Id them, depending on the seller or the more astute here on CT. My contribution, Shapur III, circa 388-383 AD:
Nice Sassanian coins! I am in process of ordering a good book on these, CNG has the book "Sunrise coll. Part One" supposed to list the Parthian/Sassanian/Hunnic coins. I ONLY have one from either Ardashir/or Peroz I
An absolute gem @panzerman !!! I suppose the 'mint state' condition of all these (soft) gold coins has a lot to do with lack of typical circulation and 'traded' by weight for payments by heads of State----"Here's that 'talent' (or whatever LOL) of gold I owe you"......
Nice coins, Doug, Pellinore, JWT, Steve, & Mikey. Wonderful gold, panzerman. I would like to get Shapur III & Peroz I this year. @Steve6 No, I haven't seen the Batman/Superman movie. All my friends have and they told me to skip it. I really didn't have much desire to see it even though I like both. I still haven't seen "Deadpool", but the dvd comes out in May so I can wait then.
I think you hit it right there. AV coinages thru the ages were probably used by the Upper Middle Class merchants/artisans/thru-Nobility/Royalty/Religious Heads/Robber Barons etc. Many were hoarded/hidden away times of strife/put aside in coin collections...even back then. The Sforzas of Italian Renaissance era were famous coin collectors. If todays mints were churning out magnificent gold issues, instead of paper currency, I would probably set some aside for my collection.
Bronze, but maybe it has some measure of silver. How rude of me for not including the details. Sassanian Persia Alexandria, Egypt AE 12 Nummi (AD 621-628) 24 mm x 14.22 grams Obverse: Bust of Khusro II facing forward wearing a Crown with Star to left Crescent to right Cross center. Reverse: I/B either side of cross on orb, Greek legend ALEZ in ex. Ref: SB #856, DOC #192 Note: Very Rare. Ex Tom Wood
Can someone explain the details of the Kushano-Sasanian Peroz dating 150 years before the Sasanian king by the same name? I would be interested in a review of the Sunrise coll. book. I considered buying it once but got the impression it was more for the gold collector than the generalist.
I think I can explain it. When the Sassanians couquered most of the vast Kushan Empire, Ardashir appointed junior sassanian Princes to rule the the former Kushan lands, since the Empire now stretched from modern day Syria/Turkey thru to W. Chinese frontier/India. This new line of rulers were different from main rulers in Ctesiphon. I think these princes still were subserviant to the King of kings in Persia. Also, I have the Sunrise book coming from CNG, I will give a review for everyone...
This gold coin is generally described as an early Kushano-Sasanian Vasudeva Imitation. These were likely made during the time the Kushanshahi invaded Kushan territory. So these are attributed to Ardeshir/Peroz. However, their name is not on the coins. This coin series differs from the so-called Royal Issues. These have a different style and have the name of the Kushanshah in the legend. The LAK 25 sticker suggested this was a dr. Adams collection coin. Did you know your coin is a plate coin in the Jongeward & Cribb catalog ?
