The Divine Ardshir, King of Kings of Iran, The Great Shah of Perisa

Persia, Sassanian Empire
Ardashir I (224-242 AD)
Billon (Also described as Potin) Tetradrachm
25.6mm x 11.19g Ctesiphon mint
Obverse: Pahlavi legend, "MaZDISN BaGi ARTaHShATER MaLKAN MaLKA AIRAN" (of the Worshipper of Mazda, the Divine Ardashir, King of Kings or Iran); cuirassed bust of Ardashir right with long beard, Parthian-style headdress with ear flaps; Reverse: Pahlavi legend, "NURA ZI ARTaHShaTR" (Fire of Ardashir), fire-altar without attendants
ref: Göbl II/5


This was my Christmas coin. I have been looking for the coins of those great rulers at not so great prices, and so I bought this. This first coin, in the Aracid /Parthia style, features the first Shah and the patriarch of the Sassanian dynasty on the obverse and the Zoroastrian Fire Alter of AhuraMazda on the reverse. After the defeat of the Parthia and Elymais, all of Persia was brought under Sassanian homogamy. The next 4 centuries would bring a new age with advances in art, literature, science, religion and warfare. The Roman Empire having stood for nearly 300 years as an Imperial power, began to decline. Persia was reborn and would again dominate the world until the collapse of Persia, under repeated invasions by the various Huna Peoples and Muslium Arabs in the mid Seventh century AD.

I also selected the reverse of this coin as my avatar. I always used the helmeted head of Athena, but I thought a new board and a new start, the fire alter of Ahura Mazda would bring me coin knowledge from now on.

I encourage others to post there coins of this ruler, as I don't see many.

 

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Thats quite a mouth-full of a title noob but I do like the coin :thumb:

Still don't have any of these but keep finding myself in strange places on ebay looking at coins I neither understand nor can afford - I credit you for this.

 

Ah, Ardashir, brother of Shapur, grandson of Papak. Ruler of Fars, defeater of Parthians, and founder of the dynasty.

Its an interesting type all Sassanid collectors should have. It was a continuation of Parthian debased Tets struck for the Greek population in western parts of the Persian empire. The Parthians made these for a few centuries, but this is the only example of one struck by the Sassanians. Shapur the great and all later rulers never struck this denomination.

One aspect many Sassanid collectors don't realize about Ardishir is he continued his conquests east after defeating the Parthians. He defeated the Kushans and forced them into India. The area the Kushans used to rule was called the Kushanshah, and non-crown princes of Persia were frequently put in charge of the area. Interestingly, the Sassanids allowed the local Kushanshahs to continue to strike coins in the denominations and style of the Kushans, a privilege not granted anywhere else in the empire. That is why we have kushanshah coins depicting persian leaders, but in the denominations used by the local people.

 

Interesting coin; however, I haven't wandered into this area of Ancients so I know nothing about these.

 

Oh wander my friend.....come this way....don't worry everything will be all right.

 

Not just yet. Too many Romans and Greeks to catch my eye.:dead-horse:

 

I find the Persian/Central Asian series to be a perfect fit with Roman and Greek. I love the traditional artistry of Greek, the rugged utilitarian artistry of the Roman, (especially early), but the Persian/Central Asian coins have an "eastern" artistry equally captivating. Few coins have I found as beautiful as high end early Sassanid silver coins.

Like I say, there is plenty of room in my "pile" for coins from everywhere.