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<p>[QUOTE="Parthicus, post: 3749214, member: 81887"]I recently purchased this coin from Forum:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1005479[/ATTACH] </p><p>Parthian Empire. Fourree drachm (3.35 g, 21 mm). Orodes II (57-38 BC). "Kangavar" mint. Obverse: Diademed bust left. Reverse: Seated archer, K below, surrounded by standard seven-line Greek legend. Sellwood 45.21v., Shore 230v. This coin: Purchased from Forum Ancient Coins, September 2019; ex. Maxwell Hunt Collection.</p><p><br /></p><p>(Note: Historical section on Orodes II and Kangavar is recycled; new text about fourrees follows.)</p><p><br /></p><p>Orodes II was a son of the Parthian king Phraates III. Around 57 BC, he teamed up with his brother Mithradates III to murder their father and seize power. The brothers soon quarreled, and after a couple of years Orodes II was able to defeat and kill his brother and claim the throne uncontested. He fought several times against Rome, most importantly the Battle of Carrhae in 53 BC where the Roman Triumvir Crassus was killed. In 38 BC his favorite son and heir apparent was killed fighting in Roman Syria, leaving a distraught Orodes to name one of his other sons, Phraates IV, his designated successor. This was a terrible choice. Phraates promptly killed his father, then killed all thirty of so of his brothers (and their families) to avoid potential rivals. Kangavar was (and still is) a city in northwestern Iran, not far from Hamadan (Ecbatana). The city is mentioned in a 1st century AD source, and archaeologists have found a possible temple of Anahita, but overall the city seems to have always been rather small and unimportant.</p><p><br /></p><p>Although Kangavar is a scarce mint for Parthian coins, my main interest in this piece was the fact that it appears to be a fourree (i.e. a base metal coin plated with silver in ancient times). Fourree coins are well-known to collectors of Roman coins, although scholarly opinion is split on whether such coins were official mint issues or unofficial forgeries (or possibly some issues were official while others were counterfeits). Fourree Parthian coins are considerably scarcer, but do occur throughout the series, and not a lot of research seems to have been done on them. I found two useful pages on Parthian fourrees (one by our own [USER=19463]@dougsmit[/USER] -perhaps he would care to comment here?):</p><p><a href="http://www.parthia.com/parthia_fourree.htm" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.parthia.com/parthia_fourree.htm" rel="nofollow">http://www.parthia.com/parthia_fourree.htm</a></p><p><a href="https://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/feac69par.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/feac69par.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/feac69par.html</a></p><p><br /></p><p>My coin was sold by Forum as a fourree, and I agree, although the base metal core is not exposed. There is surface unevenness at 3-6 o'clock and 8-9 o'clock on the reverse that seem to be caused by folds of the foil used to plate the core. The weight of 3.35 grams is quite low for silver drachms of Orodes II. There is also some slight crudeness in the design, especially in the style of the reverse inscription (harder to read than normal). However, the style of the bust is absolutely normal for Orodes II from the Kangavar mint. Based on this, I feel unable to give an opinion whether this fourree was an official mint product or not. As scholars love to write, "further research is needed." Please post your coins of Orodes II, fourrees, or whatever else you think is relevant.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Parthicus, post: 3749214, member: 81887"]I recently purchased this coin from Forum: [ATTACH=full]1005479[/ATTACH] Parthian Empire. Fourree drachm (3.35 g, 21 mm). Orodes II (57-38 BC). "Kangavar" mint. Obverse: Diademed bust left. Reverse: Seated archer, K below, surrounded by standard seven-line Greek legend. Sellwood 45.21v., Shore 230v. This coin: Purchased from Forum Ancient Coins, September 2019; ex. Maxwell Hunt Collection. (Note: Historical section on Orodes II and Kangavar is recycled; new text about fourrees follows.) Orodes II was a son of the Parthian king Phraates III. Around 57 BC, he teamed up with his brother Mithradates III to murder their father and seize power. The brothers soon quarreled, and after a couple of years Orodes II was able to defeat and kill his brother and claim the throne uncontested. He fought several times against Rome, most importantly the Battle of Carrhae in 53 BC where the Roman Triumvir Crassus was killed. In 38 BC his favorite son and heir apparent was killed fighting in Roman Syria, leaving a distraught Orodes to name one of his other sons, Phraates IV, his designated successor. This was a terrible choice. Phraates promptly killed his father, then killed all thirty of so of his brothers (and their families) to avoid potential rivals. Kangavar was (and still is) a city in northwestern Iran, not far from Hamadan (Ecbatana). The city is mentioned in a 1st century AD source, and archaeologists have found a possible temple of Anahita, but overall the city seems to have always been rather small and unimportant. Although Kangavar is a scarce mint for Parthian coins, my main interest in this piece was the fact that it appears to be a fourree (i.e. a base metal coin plated with silver in ancient times). Fourree coins are well-known to collectors of Roman coins, although scholarly opinion is split on whether such coins were official mint issues or unofficial forgeries (or possibly some issues were official while others were counterfeits). Fourree Parthian coins are considerably scarcer, but do occur throughout the series, and not a lot of research seems to have been done on them. I found two useful pages on Parthian fourrees (one by our own [USER=19463]@dougsmit[/USER] -perhaps he would care to comment here?): [URL]http://www.parthia.com/parthia_fourree.htm[/URL] [URL]https://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/feac69par.html[/URL] My coin was sold by Forum as a fourree, and I agree, although the base metal core is not exposed. There is surface unevenness at 3-6 o'clock and 8-9 o'clock on the reverse that seem to be caused by folds of the foil used to plate the core. The weight of 3.35 grams is quite low for silver drachms of Orodes II. There is also some slight crudeness in the design, especially in the style of the reverse inscription (harder to read than normal). However, the style of the bust is absolutely normal for Orodes II from the Kangavar mint. Based on this, I feel unable to give an opinion whether this fourree was an official mint product or not. As scholars love to write, "further research is needed." Please post your coins of Orodes II, fourrees, or whatever else you think is relevant.[/QUOTE]
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