Featured From the dark ages of Parthia to the highlights of my collection

Something really cool and unexpected arrived this morning. Obviously I ordered it, so it wasn't unexpected in the literal sense, but it is a coin completely outside the normal areas of my collecting habit. I collect Greeks and Byzantines and apart from the very rare venture into Roman coinage I haven't really been interested in anything else. As some of you may recall, I usually shop retail and I am always on the lookout for affordable retail stock as collector competition has driven auction prices up. So, one fine evening this little gem showed up in the marketplace listings and it was love at first sight. It was a case of 'shut up and get my money' as I bought it even though I am supposed to be saving for a nice Greek tet I am after. I managed to hold my excitement for a few minutes and did a bit of market research to make sure the price was fair (even though the coin was mis-attributed, but more about this later). Here it is, a lovely little drachm from Parthia, a historical entity and region that I know very little about.



I had seen some Parthian coins before here in Coin-Talk, but to be honest they never really clicked for me. Sometimes if I was busy I would not even bother to click on the thread if Parthia was in the title. It was just an area I wasn't interested in. I did find the fact that they used Greek writing interesting, but the art and style did not excite me. Until I saw this coin that is... This one excited me big time. And now that I hold it in my hands, I can see why. The detail is amazing and the art is reminiscent of the late-Hellenistic quality we are used to from the neighboring Greek-Roman coins of that era. Even though I admit I know little about Parthian coinage, I wouldn't be surprised if the die engraver was probably a Seleukid Greek immigrant. Something that should not be unusual considering the historical relations between those states. Another attractive aspect of this coin is the even cabinet toning which helps bring out the details even more. And the Greek legends on the reverse are very legible, which is strange considering that the Parthians were not Greek and probably only the high and well educated classes could read the coins. A nice characteristic is also the oval shape of the coin which according to my research was not an accident but the norm.

Here is where my research got interesting. Trying to find more about my coin my obvious starting point was the name of the King as this coin was attributed as being from the reign of Gotarzes I. Very soon it became evident that this might not be the case as another name was often popping up, that of Sinatruces, the son of Mithridates. it became apparent that my coin was from an era called the 'Dark ages of Parthia' where we have very little historical resources and some kings are only known from their coinage, which is funny as many of these coins have no regal name on them, thus the susceptibility to mis-attributions. I came across the following article which provided valuable information and made a strong point about my coin being from Sinatruces' reign:

https://www.cais-soas.com/CAIS/History/ashkanian/assar/assar-new-parthian-st.htm

One of the arguments stated is the use of the word 'Nikatoros' on the reverse which is Greek for conqueror and could indicate Sinatruces' great victory over Mithridates II. Additionally we can see on the coin the word 'Theopatoros' meaning that he had a God for a dad, and who else comes to mind than the infamous Mithridates I? The examples of this era's coins in this article are also quite nice which indicate to me that the Kings of that period had an eye for fine coinage. In the beginning I panicked a bit as my price market research was all about Gotarzes, but after resuming it under Sinatruces I saw that my coin at a little over £150 was still good value for money. Another characteristic that points to Sinatruces is his funny hat with stags on top. In most coins I saw you can't really tell what they are, but happily on mine they do actually look like cute little Santa's helpers.

I always like to give you a bit of a write up if the coin and the history surrounding it is fascinating, but to my despair I can't really do that here as little is known about that era. I am spoiled I guess from Greek and Byzantine kings where we even know what they liked for breakfast. In Sinatruces' case we know that he had a famous dad and his brother was Phraates II, and as the dates indicate, he was quite old when he gained the throne, he must have been into his 80s. But hey, it happens today too as a recent example in a very recent election shows. He actually reigned for quite a bit so it is quite impressive that he lived to such old age during those times.

My research is still ongoing and any help will be greatly appreciated. Apparently the Sinatruces attribution is not set in stone (or silver if you prefer). I would love your input on that as it is starting to get confusing! Show me your Parthian coinage and please share your knowledge. Am I now hooked to Parthians? Not sure yet, but it is looking interesting, and if there are more quality coins like this one, then I want more!

 

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Nice to see someone else may be getting into Parthians. I have avoided posting new ones and just throw them in the "saturday" thread because there is very little interest in them on here. And I get pretty angry when there are "30 likes" and 3 replies, it's a waste of time posting in my eyes. And that's with many posts lately I have started.

I recently got a Sinatruces but he was posted in the thread mentioned above. Yours is much nicer, congrats.


Sinatrukes (Gotarzes I) (95 - 87 B.C.)
AR Drachm
O: Bust of Sinatrukes left wearing tiara ornamented with horn and row of stags.
R: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΜΕΓΑΛΟΥ ΑΡΣΑΚΟΥ ΘΕΟΠΑΤΡΟΥ ΝΙΚΑΤΟΡΟΣ, beardless archer wearing bashlyk and cloak seated right on throne, holding bow in right hand; no border; five-line Greek inscription.
Rhagai mint
20mm
3.79g
Sellwood 33.4, Shore 113-115, Sunrise 302

 

There was last Thursday a very well done webinar "Parthia: The Forgotten Empire" with a lot of history and coin info via money.org. The instructor, Doug Mudd, is deeply knowledgeable and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I understand it will be posted on youtube. I will watch it again.

 

Let us know if it hits Youtube, I would love to watch it

@Mat Are you undecided if its Sinatruces or Gotarzes?

 

An amazing Sinatruces, @Only a Poor Old Man, and G.R.F. Assar is certainly an authority on the subject.

I will share a few resources that I have accumulated with a side-interest in Parthian coins over the last couple of years. Here's a link to my list of Resources for Parthian Coins and one to some of my Notes on Parthian Coins. There has been quite a bit of publication, debate and shift in the assignment of coins, numbering, names, and genealogy of kings. Here's an article from Assar (2005) on the Genealogy of Sinatruces. This attribution correlation chart from Chris Hopkins is quite useful. This book, recently reviewed by @Parthicus, Rivalling Rome: Parthian Coins & Culture is also an interesting, concise review.

Kings of Parthia, Sinatrukes, 93/2-70/69 BC, AR Drachm, Rhagae mint
Obv: Diademed bust left, wearing tiara; neck torque ends in pellet
Rev: Arsakes I seated right on throne, holding bow
Ref: Sellwood 33.3 (33.4) (Gotarzes I); Shore 113 (Gotarzes I)

Assar, in the Sunrise collection, mentions that Sinatruces, "the octogenarian prince", may have asked, circa 95 BC, Lucius Cornelius Sulla, propraetor of Asia, for material Roman aid in his battles with Mithridates II.

 

Wow, @Sulla80 this is exactly what I was looking for. You have done an excellent job accumulating resources and your blog is exceptional. I was really surprised when I saw the size of Parthia in one of the maps you provided. I was under the impressions that it only occupied the area of today's Armenia, but as it turns out their territory stretched to most of the old Seleukid domain. They surely had lots of Greek population under their rule which explains the coinage.

I was about to recycle the envelope the coin came in, and this dropped out. It is an old collector's ticket. One side contains references that are probably outdated today, and the other side I cannot understand. It is in an unknown language, perhaps some kind of provenance? Anyone can read it?

 

@Only a Poor Old Man that is a fabulous coin! I think I'll have to get one of those. I know it will be a strange choice for a starting point in Ancients, but that coin is so attractive to me. Thanks for posting the coin and that great write-up!

 

no, I can't read it but I can almost read it - it looks dutch to me and is the description of obverse and reverse.

"vr. Konigsbuste met tiara n. l."
"obv: King's bust with tiara to left"

"kr. Archer zittend n.r. met boog binnen veirkant van tekst"
"rev: Archer seated to right with bow inside square of text"

voorzijde/keerzijde = frontside/backside

4.14 weight in grams.

 

Very nice coin! S.33.2 (not s.33.4).
The style of this mint is usually much better, in my opinion, to that of the mint which produced the S.33.4 drachms, moreover much more common.
You can see the different S.33 here:
http://www.parthika.fr/Gotarzes.html#haut

 

Thanks for your link - a bit of a puzzle to get the sub-types right, basically:

• antlers or no antlers
• 8 (4-right, 4-left) or 9 stags (all going to right)
  
• MEΓ-AΛoY or ME-ΓAΛoY
• NIKATOR or NIKKATOR

Looking at the coins posted @Only a Poor Old Man is Ecbatana mint [33.2 with antlers, 8 stags, and ME legend] and I think mine was also misattributed [33.3 with no antlers, MEΓ, 8 stags] from Rhagae.

 

Nice coin!

it sure is Dutch, and your translation is spot on! I do not recognise the label.

 

Forget the MEΓAΛoY, there is no difference at this level.
The evident difference between Ecbatana and Rhagae is done in this way, in addition to the style:
- S.33.1-2: ΘEoΠAToPoΣ
- S.33.3-4-5: ΘEoΠATPoY
As for the NIKKAToPoY, I think that we can consider that it is not really a type, but rather an error of the engraver, on a single reverse die (I only know one coin with this error, the one of the BM)

 

That was a very useful link, and Google actually translated it nicely. By the look of it the mint attribution was wrong as well. This is going to be the second time today I will have to write a new label for the coin's quick-slab. Well, I guess it is part of the fun!

For a region and era with such scarce historical records, scholars and collectors have done a fine job uncovering the details of those coins. I have the feeling that in regards to Parthia there is a lot of hidden information waiting yet to be discovered.

@Alwin , if you don't mind me asking, I couldn't help but notice the marvelous coin in your avatar. Can you tell us more about it?

 

ARTABANOS I (Sellwood) / III (Assar), 126-122 B.C.
Tetradrachm, Seleucia
15.64 g - 28 mm
S.21.4 v.
Diademed bust right
BAΣIΛEΩΣ / APΣAKOY . Goddess enthroned left, holding Nike and cornucopia, nereid supporting throne; horse's head outer left, two monograms in exergue.

 

Thank you for the link. The Sinatrukes is one of my favorite Parthians because of the deer and the way the legend was cut using a drill.

 

Welcome to the wonderful world of Athens NewStyles! I don't get angry just bewildered. I would kill for 3 replies!

The reverse of the Atrabanos above is a dead-ringer for the reverse of of a Demetrios l Soter tetradrachm I once had c 146 BC.

 

P.O.M., That is a stunning drachm of Sinaturces ! Not only is the portrait superbly engraved but the reverse is exception too, with clear legible lettering. The icing on the cake is the beautiful patina . Many Parthian portraits are difficult to identify, especially later ones. I only have 2 Parthian coins left, the one pictured below is my favorite.

 

@Al Kowsky That's a very nice Mithradates II, and from my so far brief research into Parthian coinage it is one of the coin types that attracted my attention and will add to my collection when the right example comes along.

I don't think it is lack of interest, rather more a lack of coins to show. I noticed that most people will reply to a new coin thread only if they have a similar example to post. Athenian new-style tets are a lot rarer than classic ones and they are pricey too, so there are not many people in the forum that have one or know much about them. I remember when I first posted my top coin of 2020 (a Metapontion nomos) I didn't get that many replies either as it isn't as common as a Roman denarious which would attract many replies as people have examples and know a lot about them. Luckily some other areas have started doing better, for example I noticed lately that the Byzantine coins are getting more popular and generate very interesting conversations even for the humblest of coppers.

 

Being a generalist, I have bought some Parthian coins, but I didn't try to fill out the series or pick up rarities. Back when I bought this coin it was attributed to Gotarzes I, 95-87 BC.



21-19 mm. 4.07 grams.
Sellwood 33.4. Shore 111 which is very similar to 112-117.

Now there are new attributions. I don't think I believe the new one to "Santa and his eight reindeer."

 

This particular coin was from the Money Museum...


Parthian Empire: Phraates III (ca. 70-57 BCE) AR Drachm, Mithradatkart Mint (Sellwood-39.6; Sunrise-343)
Obv: Long bearded bust left in diadem bound tiara, decorated with a horn on side and a row of recumbent stags around the crest, pellet ended spiral torque, dotted border.
Rev: Archer enthroned right, monogram below bow, six-line Greek inscription ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΜΕΓΑΛΟY ΑΡΣΑΚΟY ΕYΕΡΓΕΤΟY ΕΠIΦΑNOYΣ ΦΙΛΕΛΛΗΝΟΣ