This Parthian tetradrachm doesn't have high silver content as the reddish rust at the top of the coin reveals and perhaps the greenish rust on the reverse too. 10-15% silver is the estimate from Assar in the Sunrise Collection notes on Parthian coins and history. So who is this Parthian ruler? EΠI on the left side of the reverse coin is not very revealing (ΕΠΙΦΑΝΟΥΣ = the Glorious/Illustrious)....Vologases IV is not the answer - although the coins are similar - this coin is less common. Only one of these tetradrachms that I could find posted on CT (from @Mat), although several drachms and a chalkous or two from Vologases VI have also been shared. Although coins from other rulers include several letters from the sequence on the obverse e.g. Vologases III: on this coin only the B is known - it is not a regnal year. What this sequence of letters might have represented - is unknown (at least to me). Kings of Parthia, Vologases VI, 208-228 AD, BI Tetradrachm (25mm, 12.56 g, 12h), mint Seleucia, date is off flan. Obv: Bust left with long pointed beard, wearing diademed tiara with horn and long curved earflap, earring, and necklace; B behind Rev: King seated left on throne, receiving diadem from Tyche holding sceptre; [unknown Seleukid date] between Ref: Sellwood 88 He succeeded his father, Vologases V, near the end of the reign of Septimius Severus in Rome. Attacks on Vologases V by Septimius earned the Roman emperor the title of Parthicus Maximus. According to Cassius Dio, Caracalla took delight in the quarrel of Vologases VI with his brother Artabanus VI. "But he (Caracalla) did not hesitate to write to the senate regarding the Parthian rulers, who were brothers and at variance, that the brothers' quarrel would work great harm to the Parthian State, as if this sort of thing could destroy the barbarians and yet had saved Rome, — whereas in fact Rome had been, one might say, utterly overthrown thereby!" - Cassius Dio, LXXVIII.12.3 Had Ardashir I not come forward and founded a new eastern empire (Sasanian), Parthia may have ended up as a Roman province. For a longer write-up of this coin, civil war, interactions with Rome, and an inevitable link with Lucius Cornelius Sulla, see: The End of Parthia. Post your coins from the final years of the Parthian empire, Septimius as PART MAX, Ardashir I founder of the Sassanian empire, or anything else the you find interesting or entertaining.
Nice pickup. These don't come much better than this, so this is really a good score. Sulla, I'm not sure how you concluded the following: I would imagine that listing was from the seller(?). I would have listed it simply as a Sellwood type 88. The Volo VI varieties are exclusively determined by the date above the diadem that Tyche presents to the seated king on the reverse. On the OP coin the date is completely missing in action from the top of the reverse. For this to be a Sellwood 88.3-4 (Shore 451), the Seleukid year AKΦ (October 209 - September 210) would have to be visible. Therefore, a specific variety is undeterminable. Or am I missing something here?
You are not missing anything, my cut and paste error - the date is off flan (and I was unsuccessful finding a die match) - Sellwood 88 is right. I've updated the OP. Thanks!
Congrats on your new addition. Vologases VI ( 208 - 226 A.D.) Billon Tetradrachm O: Bust left with long, tapered beard wearing tiara with hooks on crest, horn on side and long, curved earflap and earring. Lock of hair on forehead representing royal wart; B behind head. Diadem with loop at top and three ends. R: King seated left on throne, Tyche standing right before him, giving him diadem and holding scepter. Year 520=208/9 A.D. 13.29g 26mm Seleucia Mint Sellwood 88.2 Shore 450 NGC CH F Surface 3/5 Strike 5/5
VOLOGASES VI Tetradrachm, Seleucia AKΦ = 209/210 S.88.3/4 13.71 g - 25/27 mm B behind the bust The letter behind the bust probably corresponds to the officina that minted the coin. At least that's the best hypothesis in my opinion. VOLOGASES VI Drachm, Ecbatana S.88.18 3.66 g - 19 mm On the reverse, the first line of the legend gives the name of the king in Parthian characters. The rest of the legend in very degraded Greek.
I have several coins relevant to this topic. First, a drachm and an AE chalkos of Vologases VI: A drachm of his brother, Artabanos VI, who was killed by Ardashir in 224: And some coins of Ardashir, former vassal in Persis who destroyed the Parthians and founded the Sasanian Persian empire. First, an obol when he was still ruling as Ardashir V of Persis, pre-224: And two obols as the shahenshah (King of Kings) (224-240); first, an example from early in his reign where he still wears a Parthian-style tiara, and then a later example where he wears a more distinctly Sasanian crown.
I agree that the letters behind the bust on late Parthian tetradrachms are almost certainly mint officina markers. But that still doesn't explain: why was only officina B at Seleukia making tetradrachms for Vologases VI? Was officina A specialized in the bronze coinage at that time? Or was only officina B active (which begs the question, if there's only one officina why do you need to mark it on the coins)? I don't know any good way to answer these questions, sadly lots of information gets lost over the centuries and is unrecoverable...
Nice coins all! Parthia, Vologases VI 208-228 AD, AE Chalkous, 10mm-1.25gm. Ecbatana Mint. Obverse Bearded, diademed bust of king left, wearing torque and tiara decorated with hooks, a line with pellets and an ear flap, dotted border around Reverse Eagle standing left with wings open Reference Sellwood 88.29, Shore 640 Purchased from Coin India- vcoins November 2021. Ex-Tom Mallon collection. Published on his website, The Coins and History of Asia. This coin is also published on the Parthia.com website: http://parthia.com/vologases6.htm .
Great coins from all in this thread: drachms, obols, chalkoi, and tetradrachms. @Parthicus, thanks for the full complement of brothers and conquerors. Also thanks to @Alwin & @Parthicus for a perspective on the "officina marks". I'll add a Septimius Severus denarius celebrating VICT PARTHICAE. His attack on Ctesiphon (198 AD) during the reign of Vologases V contributed to the end.
Nice coin! This is one, a billon tetradrachm of Vologases VI, of the first ancients that I collected, around 40 years ago. It came out of a budget box, as I recall, at a local coin show. It was somewhat encrusted on the reverse, so this coin became my first cleaning project. It ended up being sold to my local coin dealer, along with a large number of other coins in 1993, to raise money for the down payment for our house, but I was able to buy it back later - a happy reunion! Edit: I goofed on the attribution of this tetradrachm. It was actually issued by Vologases IV (see correcting post below).
Thanks for the information. I have a terrible time deciphering the reverse on these coins. I'll make a note. Is there a date between the two figures on the reverse? I'm having trouble making them out. 498 (186/7AD)?
There is, but whether it is decipherable is another question. The month is off-flan, but the year is above Tyche's diadem. But the lettering is in bad shape. Might be H-koppa-Y, Seleukid Era year 498, which equates to October 186 - September 187, which is to say: Sellwood 84.110 - 111. But I may be on shaky ground with that interpretation.
Thanks! I also came up with 498, after trying to match the letters with an online list of ancient Greek numbers, but as you say the lettering is quite blundered, which makes the year problematic. I think this is the best attribution for the year that can be made for this coin. Yes, sadly the month is missing, which is quite common, I understand, for these coins. Thanks again for helping.
That is very true. Just based on the obverse, I get confused easily, and the reverse can be a challenge as well to distinguish the two kings.
A nice and unusual Parthian tetradrachm! All I have from this period in Parthian history is this drachm of Osroes II. Osroes II appears to have tried to take the throne shortly before or after the death of Vologases IV at about the same time the Romans were busy with the tumultuous aftermath of Commodus' assassination. Although he was quickly put down by Vologases V, Osroes' revolt might have been a reason why the Parthians weren't able to take that much advantage of Rome's internal conflicts: Parthian Empire, under Osroes II, AR drachm, c. 190–195 AD, Ekbatana mint. Obv: bust with diadem and tiara l. Rev: blundered standard legend, archer seated r. on throne; pellet above bow. 20mm, 3.66g. Ref: Sellwood 85.2.
Thanks @Orielensis! Osroes II (brother of Vologases V) also appears to have accompanied Septimius Severus in his attacks on Parthia. Cassius Dio reports the connection to the brother of Vologases: "As the Parthians did not await his arrival but retired homeward (their leader was Vologaesus, whose brother was accompanying Severus), he constructed boats on the Euphrates and proceeded forward partly by sailing and partly by marching along the river. The boats thus built were exceedingly swift and speedy and well constructed, for the forest along the Euphrates and that region in general afforded him an abundant supply of timber. Thus he soon had seized Seleucia and Babylon, both of which had been abandoned. Later, upon capturing Ctesiphon, he permitted the soldiers to plunder the entire city, and he slew a vast number of people, besides taking as many as a hundred thousand captives." - Cassius Dio, Roman History, Book LXXVI 9.1
