The problem with these very small coins is - that they are so SMALL! it's not easy to read and understand them! Here's another Sasanian bronze that however looks rather different from the last one. When looking at two coins, I start looking for the difference in fabric. The last one was very thin and irregularly formed. But this one is a thick round pellet, and it's not coppery red but bronze-like dark green. It has an important flaw: the face is unclear, I don't see the king's nose, something went wrong there. I hope you can help me with this coin! Here's the technical description. Sasanian empire, AE pashiz, Xusro II or Yazdgard III??? 15.5 mm, 2.83g. Obv. King’s bust to the right with a crown that looks like a teapot in which a stick has been stuck with a French lily on it. At the left side of the head a monogram known as GDH, ‘xuarr’ meaning ‘shine’. At the right side another word, ‘afzut’ meaning ‘growing’. Therefore, only Xusro II or Yazdgard III. Rev. Fire altar without attendants! At the left side a word that I can’t read, right a word that starts with a large ‘3’ – that’s ‘D’ in Persian. Maybe a mint name.
It took a few days, but I found this little Sasanian in one of my beloved standard works, Arab-Sasanian Copper Coins by Rika Gyselen. It is type 11. Minted in Darabgird (now Darab) in Iran after the demise of the Sasanid dynasty in the second half of the 7th century - by the way one of the most interesting periods worldwide for coin collecting. Sceattas, Huns, the Byzantine Empire in turmoil, the onslaught of Islam - they all yield interesting coins. The only thing is, this coin was struck on a thick pellet-like blank, whereas the other coins (Gyselen consequently mentions weight and diameter) are both thinner and larger, not heavier than mine. Outside the rims are crescents at 3 o'clock, 6 and 9 o'clock. On my coin these are almost completely invisible.
