This coin was #7 in my Best of 2020 list, but I hadn't done a separate write-up of it until now. Persis. AR hemidrachm (2.10 g, 13 mm). Uncertain King I (2nd century BC). Obverse: Head right, with short beard, wearing diadem and kyrbasia with flaps tied behind. Reverse: Zoroastrian temple, king to left with arms raised in prayer, standard to right, no inscription. Alarm 552, Sunrise 578. This coin: Pars Coins Auction 10 (November 16,2020), lot 114. (Note: Section below contains recycled text from an earlier post. Reduce, reuse, recycle.) Persis is another name for what is now Fars or Pars province of Iran, and is the original homeland of the Persian people. Under the Achaemenid dynasty, the Persians built up an enormous empire that stretched from the edge of Greece, through Asia Minor and the Levant, Mesopotamia, the Iranian plateau, and a considerable chunk of Central Asia, up to the edge of India. However, after the destruction of the Achaemenids by Alexander, the Persian cultural/political sphere contracted back to the homeland of Persis, which seems to have retained a good deal of local autonomy during the Seleucid and Parthian periods. A silver coinage was issued in the name of local rulers, who on later coins style themselves King and make no reference to allegiance to a King of Kings, even though the area was nominally subject to the Parthians. There is unfortunately very little literary or archaeological evidence for the history of Persis, other than the coins themselves. The last king of Persis, Ardashir V, would rebel against his Parthian overlords, overthrowing them completely and establishing the Sasanian Empire about 224 AD. Persis issued an extensive silver coinage from a mint at Persepolis. The earliest coins, from the 3rd century BC, are in tetradrachm and drachm denominations; the tetradrachms stopped by the early 2nd century BC, while drachms and fractional silver continued for the rest of the series (indeed, fractional silver is more common than drachms for many issues). Unfortunately, the king who issued this type is even more obscure than most kings of Persis, as his name does not appear on his coins. The use of the fire-temple design on the reverse was typical of the earlier kings, who may have been eager to burnish their credentials as pious Zoroastrians to gain support from the Persian populace. This type is somewhat scarce, though not as much as some other early types. Please post your coins of Persis, or whatever else is related.
As I mentioned earlier, I bought several coins from the Sunrise collection, including Sunrise 578. The coins from Persis was the only ones I had a chance of winning as the rest of them went for really big bucks! Kingdom of Persis: Uncertain King I (ca. 2nd Century BCE) AR Hemidrachm (Sunrise 578; Klose & Müseler 3/6; Alram 552) Obv: Head of Uncertain King I right, with short beard, wearing diadem and kyrbasia surmounted by eagle Rev: Fire temple, Ahura-Mazda above, to left, king standing right, to right, standard surmounted by eagle
The mural crowns on some of the rulers of Persis look like medieval European crowns. Ardaxšir (Artaxerxes) II. Circa 60 BC. AR Hemidrachm (14mm, 1.95 g). Obv: Diademed bust left wearing mural crown; monogram behind. Rev: “rthštr / MLK' / BRH d'ryw / MLK'” in Aramaic script (King Ardashir, son of King Darius) K&M 4/16; Alram 577; Tyler-Smith 107; Sunrise -. The reverse shows "Ardaxšir standing right, holding scepter and sacrificing before altar to right" although it is a difficult to make out! Quality control was not a priority.
