Here's another of my wins from Frank Robinson's most recent auction: Sasanian Kingdom. Khusro II (590- 628 AD), Royal Year 7. Herat mint. AR drachm. Obverse: Crowned bust of king, Pahlavi legend around. Reverse: Zoroastrian fire-altar with two attendants, date [Year] 7, mintmark HL (Herat). This coin: Frank S. Robinson Auction 108, lot 477 (April 9, 2019). Khusro II, also known as Khusro Aparviz (Khusro the Victorious), was the last great king of the Sasanian Persian empire, and also saw the start of its downfall. He was the son of Hormazd IV, who in 590 was blinded and killed in a palace intrigue, leaving Khusro II king. However, a nobleman named Vahram who had been disgraced by Hormazd, recast himself as the avenger of Hormazd and claimed that Khusro had been behind the plot to kill him. Khusro was forced to flee to the Byzantine empire and appeal for help to Emperor Maurice. Meanwhile, Hormazd had himself crowned as Hormazd VI. With Maurice's help, Khusro reclaimed his throne in 591, and Hormazd was hunted down and killed. In 602, the Byzantine emperor Maurice was killed by Phocas, and Khusro used this murder of his former benefactor as the premise for an invasion of Byzantine territory, quickly taking land in Syria and western Anatolia. In 614 Khusro's troops advanced south to the Holy Land, conquering Jerusalem and carrying off the alleged True Cross, and by 618 he had conquered Egypt. He also expanded Sasanian control in the Arabian peninsula during this time. In 622, the Byzantines under Heraclius started their counter-attack into northwestern Iran, where they burned a major Zoroastrian sanctuary in revenge for Khusro's theft of the True Cross. By 628, the Byzantines had reconquered all the territory that Khusro had taken from them, temporarily took the Sasanian capitol at Ktesiphon, and regained the True Cross, to much rejoicing. The Sasanian nobles seized Khusro, put him on trial for his mismanagement of the war (among other charges), and predictably found him guilty and executed him. He was succeeded by a series of weak non-entities, none of whom could stand up to the expanding Muslim power to their south, and in 651 the last Sasanian king was killed, ending the dynasty. Khusro II is one of the better-documented Sasanian kings, largely because of his proximity in time to the early Muslim writers. He is generally considered a sympathetic figure in Persian culture, and is the hero of several classical romances. Despite his theft of the True Cross, he was overall tolerant of Christianity, and his beloved wife Shirin was a Christian. During his reign, he also reportedly received a letter from an Arabian man named Muhammad, who was trying to interest the emperor in a new religious movement. Khusro angrily tore up the "insolent" letter and ordered his vassal in Yemen to capture the author. (Spoiler: Muhammad was not captured.) Coins of Khusro II are the most common Sasanian coins available today, and are usually relatively inexpensive even for high-grade examples (this coin had a final bid of only $39). The mint of Herat (still a large city, located in what is now Afghanistan) seems to be a scarcer Sasanian mint, but since hardly anyone collects Sasanian coins by mint it doesn't seem to add a premium. Please post your coins of Khusro II, or other related coins.
A nice addition, @Parthicus Khusro II (591-628 A.D.) AR Drachm O: Bust of King right, crowned and cuirassed, ribbon over right shoulder, crescent and ribbon over left, stars flanking crown, monogram to left. R: Two attendants and fire alter, star and crescent flanking flame. 4.1g 32mm LYW for Rev-Ardashir, Year 33
Love your write up @Pathicus. I have never spent much time studying the other empires/cultures that clashed with Rome, and I'm going to shamelessly copy your write up about Kushro into my notes. Below is my coin. I do not know how to "read" them to determine the date or mint, I bought it because I thought it was an interesting design with a good legend and a pleasing tone. And I love a good headdress! Khusru II, Sassanian Kingdom, AD 590-628 AR, 31.5mm, 4.12g, 2h Obv.: Bust of Sassanian king facing right wearing winged crown Rev.: Fire altar flanked by two attendants
@Jwt708 : For deciphering the mintmarks and dates on Sasanian drachms, there are two very useful pages over on Forum that you should bookmark: https://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=Sasanian Dates https://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=Sasanian Mints The date and mintmark can be found on the reverse of the coin, next to the attendants. Here they are on your coin (rotated 90 degrees right for easier reading): Note that mintmarks didn't start until Varahran IV (388-399) and dates started intermittently with Peroz (454-484) and become standard with Kavad I (488-497, 499-532); if you look for dates/mints on earlier coins, you are likely to get frustrated. Also, in that chart of mintmarks, you'll notice that some are unidentified, and experts disagree on which mint some of them mean. On your coin, I can't figure out the mintmark enough even to guess. The year might possibly be 23, but I'm not very sure on that. Your coin is still a nice example, even if the year/mint aren't so clear.
Thanks for pointing me down the right direction and all the helpful comments! The reverse of that coin is a little "messy" and makes it hard to see what's going on, but it's still a very nice coin. I bookmarked the links you posted, again thanks! Maybe with a little better understanding I can approach these coins a little more intelligently.
