Parthian Kingdom. AE (16 mm, 3.02 g). Arsakes II (Artabanos I) (c. 211- 185 BCE). Obverse: Beardless head of king left, wearing bashlyk. Reverse: Eagle right, Greek legend "Arsak[ou]" vertical on left side. Sellwood type 6 (unlisted reverse design). This coin: Pars Coins eSale 4 (June 16, 2023), lot 25. Arsakes II, who may have had the personal name Artabanos, was the son and successor of the first independent Parthian king, Arsakes I (c. 247-211 BCE). Arsakes I had carved out an independent kingdom from some eastern territory of the Seleucid empire. In 209 BCE Antiochos III defeated Arsakes II at the Battle of Mount Labus. As a result, Arsakes was forced to accept his status as a vassal of the Seleucids. This included being forced to stop issuing coins in his own name. Assar dates the silver and bronze coins of this type (Sellwood 6) to the first few years of Arsakes II's reign, before his defeat by Antiochos III, while coins of a revised design may be from after 190 BCE, after Antiochos was defeated by the Romans at the Battle of Magnesia and Arsakes felt more free to assert his independence. This reverse type (eagle right) is not listed in the standard catalogs of Sellwood or Shore, or in the Sunrise collection. However, the parthia.com website lists six examples in the database, making this a rare but not unknown type. Please post your related coins.
Great coin, congrats! Parthian bronzes are difficult to find no matter, but especially attractive ones like this. (Really cool eagle reverse type too, looks a bit like the dove on some Sicyon coins.)
