Here's the first of my recent wins from Frank Robinson's auction: Parthian Kingdom. AR drachm. Phraates IV (38-2 BC). Obverse: Bust of king right, eagle behind carrying wreath; die break across eye. Reverse: standard Greek legend around seated archer, Laodicea mintmark. Sellwood 52.16, Shore 283. Frank S. Robinson, Sale 103, lot 101 ($39). I've posted a different coin of Phraates IV previously, so I'll quote from that post for his biography: "Phraates IV had a fair amount of interaction with the Roman world, and thus we know more about him than many other Parthian kings. Phraates was one of the thirty-plus sons of the Parthian king Orodes II (57-38 BC). Orodes had made clear that he considered his favorite son Pakoros his intended successor; however, Pakoros was killed in 38 BC while leading a Parthian incursion into Syria and Asia Minor. Distraught, Orodes now declared that Phraates would be his successor instead. Phraates, unfortunately, proved to be a cruel and power-hungry man. He promptly murdered his own father, then consolidated his power by killing all thirty-or-so of his brothers and their families. Mark Antony launched an ill-fated invasion of Parthia through Media Atropatene (Azerbaijan) in 36 BC; this would ultimately lead to a peace treaty with Rome whose terms were fulfilled in 20 BC. As part of the terms, Rome received the military standards and prisoners who had been captured from Crassus and subsequent Roman commanders. Among the gifts given to Phraates was a beautiful and charming courtesan named Musa. She would soon work her way into Phraates' favor, becoming his wife. Unfortunately, Phraates' seizure of power through parricide had set a bad precedent, and in 2 BC Musa and her son Phraates V or Phraataces (Little Phraates) would murder Phraates IV and take power for themselves. "This is a fairly common Parthian coin type; what attracted me to this specimen was the quality of the portrait. The highly stylized, angular face seems filled with cruelty and contempt for his enemies, which was probably the intent of the artist. This coin seems to say, "Do not fight with this man; he will beat you, and he will make you suffer." Given what we know of his biography, that seems entirely accurate." One feature of this coin that attracted me is the die break across the eye. It almost looks like a scar on his face, which adds to the cruel and merciless features. The dark toning adds to the sinister aspect of this coin. I was also interested because of the mintmark of Laodicea, which is one of the scarcer Parthian mint marks. There were several cities in the ancient world called Laodicea, the most famous of which was in Phrygia and is mentioned in the New Testament. However, this coin was struck at Laodicea in Media, which became Nihavand in Sasanian times and is still an inhabited city in Hamadan Province, Iran. At $39 hammer price, this coin was a steal. I guess nobody else thought the die break was interesting, or cared about the rare mintmark. Post your Phraates IV coins, or whatever else you feel is relevant.
So this is one of his father's coins who I believe I read also murdered his own father with the help of his brother. Parthian Kingdom: Orodes II AE Chalkous Kangavar mint 57-38 BC Obverse: Diademed head left Reverse: Athena standing left References: Sellwood 45.41 var Rare Size: 10mm, 1.37g
My Phraates IV are from more common mints. Mithradatkart (my favorite) Ekbatana Since he was mentioned, I'll tack on a Phraataces from Mithradatkart and mention my regret for not having a Musa to share. Who was it that said that the only thing worse than being the king's enemy was to be his brother? Recently there have been quite a few Parthian coins of different mints on the market. I have no idea where these came from but wonder if there was a large specialized collection being broken up. It might be a god time to decide to specialize in Parthian while material is available.
