Here's one of my wins from the recent Triskeles 20 auction: Parthian Kingdom. AR drachm (20mm, 3.61g). Vonones I (c. 8-12 AD). Obverse: Diademed bust of Vonones I left, BACILEUC ONWNHS around. Reverse: Nike standing left holding palm branch, Ekbatana mint symbol, BACILEUC ONWNHC NEIKHCAC APTABANON around. Sellwood 60.5, Shore 329. Vonones I was the eldest son of the Parthian king Phraates IV. When Phraates IV and Augustus concluded a peace agreement in the 20s BC (which included return of Crassus' standards to Rome, and the gift of concubine/eventual queen Musa to Phraates), Vonones was sent to Rome to live and learn Roman customs, and not-so-incidentally to serve as a hostage to guarantee Parthian good faith. After Phraatakes and his mother/wife Musa were overthrown in 4 AD, Parthian leadership was thrown into chaos. Orodes III took power but was almost immediately murdered. The Parthian nobles then asked Rome for Vonones to be sent them as their king. However, they were soon displeased at how Romanized/Hellenized he had become. He no longer cared for traditional pursuits of the Parthian nobles such as hunting and feasting, and worst of all, did not enjoy horseback riding, preferring to ride in a litter. Soon some nobles backed Artabanos, king of the Parthian vassal state Media Atropatene and part of the Parthian royal family, as a rival for the throne. Vonones won an early battle, but in 12 AD was forced from the Parthian throne by Artabanos and fled to Armenia, where he ruled as king. After a few years Artabanos complained to the Romans, who induced Vonones to head into a luxurious exile/house arrest in Roman Syria. He was then transferred farther from Parthian territory, into Cilicia, and was killed trying to escape in 19 AD. This drachm, while still recognizably Parthian in style, is a notable departure from previous issues and shows some of the Hellenistic influence Vonones had picked up. The obverse clearly states the king's personal name, a detail that almost all Parthian kings left off their coins (to the annoyance of future historians and numismatists). On the reverse, the usual figure of an archer is omitted and replaced by Nike (Victory), a theme which is continued in the reverse legend. Instead of the standard seven-line reverse legends, which merely repeat a bunch of stereotyped titles and don't even give the king's personal name, we get a direct four-line inscription that refers to current events: "King Vonones, Conqueror of Artabanos". Who knows, perhaps if he had lived longer Vonones might have initiated a renaissance for Parthian coin artistry.
NICE! Like Roman Republicans with endless Quadrigas and Bigas, Parthians seemed to be endless Archers (to me). Cool addition, and congrats @Parthicus , very nice Drachm that I would like to find also!
Nice coin! Triskeles was my "Fun as the Underbidder" auction. The frequency of CoinTalkers bidding against each other is making me wonder if the ancient coin marketplace is rather smaller than I thought... Or maybe we just have the best taste.
Neat coin with a fascinating story. Thanks for sharing! Now I want one... None of you are bidding up my ancient Chinese, so...
All the authenticity issues still make me nervous, I mostly buy Chinese stuff at a fixed price from dealers I know are experts in the material. I did recently pick this one up at auction, though: State of Qi, 300-220 BC, H 6.23
I don't mean to break into this tread, but it is about ancients. Can anyone tell me anything about the following coin that a friend gave me. All he knew was it was Caesar.
It seems a bit unusual (fantasy piece?) to my eyes...especially in comparison to these examples: https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?term=Augustus aegypto capta&category=1-2&en=1&de=1&fr=1&it=1&es=1&ot=1&images=1¤cy=usd&thesau
How can you tell it's a replica as opposed to the real thing? If something is a replica, then it is a reproduction of a real coin. Then the coin I posted is either an actual coin or a replica of it, not a "fantasy piece." Keep in mind, I took the pictures with a simple point and shoot camera, so it doesn't have the quality image that some other coins on this forum have. It was given to me, so I didn't get taken, as I said, it was a gift from a friend.
Because it's an inexact replica, and the various ways in which it's inexact match (exactly) with something that is a known fake. I'm sorry it turned out that way for you... I hope it won't turn you off ancient coins! Really, they're lots of fun and don't have to cost much.
