Hey guys....snowed in tonight here in Ohio.....thought i'd break out some coins and have a fun little photo shoot! The Parthians were excellent archers, and the skill was so revered as a means of fighting, they decided to depict archers on the reverse of their coinage. Here is a photo showing the evolution of the archer, Arsaces I on the reverse of the Parthian drachms. Also included is a tiny chalkous depicting the seated archer. Hope you enjoy, and as always, lets see what you got!
I always marvel at the variety of type available on Parthian bronzes and, to lesser degree on tetradrachms, while the drachms are 99% archers. Worse, where is an archer doing anything different (shooting, riding)? My only non-conformist is from Vonones I, the least Parthian of the Parthians. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vonones_I
Nice batch of Parthians you got there, DBDc80. Doug does have a point - Parthia was very conservative in their choice of designs for the drachms. I've never seen one with an obverse inscription - I'm guessing this is a pretty scarce type. My favorite aspect to them is the portraits, many which seem to embody the Eastern Potentate and a nice East-meets-West look to them: Parthia - Drachm Orodes II (57-38 B.C.) Rhagae Mint short-bearded bust left, torque ending in pellet, star before & crescent behind, no wart / Archer seated rt., Greek inscription, mint monogram. Sellwood 47.8
Excellent coins @DBDc80! I've got to up my archer game! Here's one... Oh, and a coin: OrodesI Hellenistic Monarchies, The Parthian Kingdom - 80-77 BC. AR Drachm (17mm, 3.35g). Rhagae. Bust wearing a tiara with eight pointed star in centre to left, with short beard / Archer seated right on throne, seven line inscription. cf S.7389, Sellwood 31.6.Former Kairos Numismatik
A kind of related subject, but of possible interest to those interested in ancient archery. Moderators please delete if considered too off topic: "Roman army" archer's thumb ring. Romans were great warriors, but terrible bowmen, so the Roman army employed auxiliaries from local tribes and others, like Scythians and Cretans, to name two. this is an ancient archer's ring. It has a beautiful dark green patina. It is written that auxiliary archers were first employed by the Roman armies during the reign of the Roman emperor Galba circa 68-69 AD. Wear and use of the archer's thumb ring is demonstrated by the below video. Please copy and paste the URL into your browser if it is not "active"
