I wanted to show one of my recent purchases. A silver drachm from the rule of Khusro II (590-628AD) of the Sassanian Empire (in Persia). This piece was minted in regnal year 27 (616/7 AD), and weighs 3.84g. The obverse is a bust of Khusro II, facing right, with the ruler's name behind the head and the letters APD in the outside field (meaning 'praise'). Sassanian script is read right to left as Arabic is. The reverse shows a fire alter flanked by two attendants. The state religion of the Sassanians was Zoroastrianism and they promoted it heavily in the lands they conquered, sometimes building a fire alter in a conquered city. In the left field is the regnal year (27) and in the right field a series of letters indicating the mint (WYH, though I can see it being a few other possibilities). The WYH mint refers to the city of Veh-Kavad in central Iraq. The reign of Khusro II (son of Hormazd IV) was initially marked by numerous conquests in Asia Minor, Egypt, and Syria. However, the Romaion emporer Heraclius managed to rally and take back all of what Khusro II invaded. He was eventually assassinated (his own son may have been responsible) in 628AD, his rule ending in miserable failure. Silver drachms of the Sassanians were used primarily for payment to the military during campaigns. Not having a regular conscripted army like the Romans, the Sassanians relied on amassing large numbers of men for warfare as the need arose. It is relatively easy to find drachms of this particular ruler, thus this says something about the amount of time the army spent in the field during his reign. It is said the Khusro II boasted that during his rule, the number of drachms in his treasury had more than doubled. There were many mints in the Sassanian Empire and more than a few appear to have been temporary. It is thought that mint facilities followed the army and struck coins at points along the way.
Great looking coin. I have yet to pick up a Sassanian piece for my ancient collection. By the way, its great to see an ancient coin in here! Much better than the usual modern foreign NCLT's!
...and an imitation Another recent purchase. The Sassanian drachm design proved quite popular after the muslims conquered the Sassanian empire, and were imitated quite closely until the coinage reform under the Umayyads (by Abd Al-Malik, 696AD). However, traces of the design of these coins, in particular those of Khusro II, persisted for hundreds of years elsewhere. Below I show a drachm of Saurashtra-Gujarat, on a peninsula in western India between the Gulf of Kutch and Gulf of Khambhat. Elements of the coin featured at the beginning of this thread are visible on both obverse (bust of Khusro II) and reverse (fire alter flanked by 'attendants'). Drachm from Saurashtra-Gujarat ca. 800-950AD Silver, 3.27 g
