Dear Coin Talk friends, May I impose upon the Sasanian experts out there by asking for attribution help for the 4 coins whose photos are attached? These are out quite out of my field of study. The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th coins came with tentative attributions to Khusru II. Because I can not read any of their inscriptions, which include, I would imagine, the sovereigns' names and titles, as well as probable dates and mint designations, I would be most grateful for any members' help in their deciphering, as well as suggestions for reference works for the series should I ever acquire any more. With thanks in advance, Mike
All four are Khusro II (unsurprisingly, his drachms are by far the most common Sasanian coins). Here's my reading of the mint marks: 1. BBA= Court Mint (itinerant, moved with the king) 2. AY= Airan Khurra Shahpur (near Susa) 3. BYSh= Bishapur 4. BN= uncertain city in Kirman province There are also years on all the coins, but those are harder to read and I have to get to work. I will give it a try when I get home. All you other Sasanian fans out there, please check my mint attributions and see if you agree.
1st one looks like year 19, you can see the dates here... http://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=Sasanian Dates
An interesting thing (to me anyway) about these dates is that Pahlavi is a language that reads right to left BUT they thought of numbers the opposite way we do so our 'twenty-nine' was their 'nine and twenty'. I am terrible at 'reading' these. Actually I do not 'read' but just 'squiggle match'. I have been known to buy a coin because the date looks like one I might be able to decipher. The first coin here is such a coin. My main problem is the similarity in some numbers (1 and 3 come to mind). I'll be interested in seeing Parthicus' or arnoldoe's readings so I can look at them and see if I can see why they said that.
Well, I'm back home and enjoying my dinner, so time to try and read some ancient script... I am prepared to ID three of the dates. I still can't figure out the date on coin #2. If anyone can make a plausible reading, well, I bow to your superior Pahlavi skills. 1. Year 19 (I agree with @arnoldoe ) 3. Year 25- The key to figuring this out is recognizing that the first letter, with an open circle, is not T but is actually a P. 4. Year 33- It starts with an S, and then just keeps on going... Oh, and the link to the online version of the Sasanian date chart is here: http://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=Sasanian Dates And the Sasanian mintmark page is here: http://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=sasanian mints Both pages are the work of the late Tom Mallon, a dedicated collector who was one of the pioneers in putting information on ancient Eastern coins online.
I used to hate trying to figure out the Sassanian Kings on coins. Then some helpful soul pointed out that they each have a different crown (or hat) as I like to think of it, and then all of a sudden everything was much easier.
Those are some very nice coins. I have same question regarding my sassanian coin, which is in much poorer state. The face on my coin doesnt seem to have a beard. Thanks for any help
Thanks GG! I wanted to ask you if you can make out the year on the coin, but after reading basic info on this ruler, I saw that he only ruled for two years (630-632).
Those coins are hard to read. Since it's not my specialty, it's possible I'm wrong. Here is a page that might help you learn these coins if you like but there is a lot of reading. Perhaps you have already seen this site. https://www.beastcoins.com/Sasanian/Sasanian.htm My coin is Arab-Sasanian. I will get some Sasanian rulers later on. Ancient Middle-East Arab-Sasanian, Abbassid Governors of Tabaristan, AR Hemidrachm, 136 PYE (Post Yazdgard Era = AH 170 = 786/787 AD) Obverse: AFZWT, Right facing bust imitating Khusru II, wearing winged crown surmounted by star and crescent, inside single-dotted border, crescents with stars at 3, 6 and 9 o'clock. Pahlavi date and mintmark in lower left and right margins. Reverse: Sasanian style fire altar with two attendants standing facing, crescents on their heads, both hands on sword hilt, inside triple dotted-border, crescents with stars at 3, 6, 9 and 12 o'clock, three pellets at the diagonals. Reference: Album 73, Malek 175 Ex: Kayser-i Rum Numismatics +photo
Before I posted question here, I researched this site: Sasanian Coins http://coins.calkinsc.com/sasanian_gallery.html
SASANIAN: Persia Sassanian Ardashir III 628-629 CE AR Drachm 36mm 3.85g Zoroastrian Fire Alter Gobl II-1 yr 2 Delta RARE Sassanian Shapur I 240-272 CE AE Tetradrachm 10.78g 27mm Ctesiphon mint phase 1a mural crown korymbos - fire altar type 2 SNS IIa1-1a
