Another recent auction win from Frank Robinson: Sasanian Empire, Rayy mint. AR drachm. Hormazd IV (579-590 AD), Royal Year 3. Obverse: Bust of king right, inscription in Pahlavi script. Reverse: Zoroastrian fire-altar with two attendants, star and crescent above; to right mintmark RD (Rayy), to left date (Year) Three. This coin: Frank S. Robinson Auction 108, lot 473 (April 9, 2019). Hormazd IV was the son of Khusro I (531-579 AD); his mother was the daughter of a foreign khagan, though whether it was the Turkish or Khazar khagan seems to be in dispute. Hormazd clashed often with the nobles and the Zoroastrian religious leaders, and is said to have ordered the executions of over 13,000 of his noble and religious opponents. He fought a series of minor battles against the Byzantines in the 580s, but the main military highlights of his rule came from the east. In 588 he sent a force under general Vahram Chobin to repel the Turkish forces that had conquered Balkh. Vahram was spectacularly successful, driving back the Turks and acquiring new territory, killing the Turkish khagan and capturing his son, and seizing a huge quantity of gold and other plunder. Unfortunately, the glory of Vahram made Hormazd jealous of his subordinate, and in 589 he had Vahram humiliated and removed from office. Vahram began to raise a rebellion, which inspired a palace plot to depose, blind and kill Hormazd and place his son Khusro on the throne. The rather opportunistic Vahram now declared himself the avenger of Hormazd and marched against Khusro, which did not end well for Vahram. Note the rather weird-looking portrait, which Frank Robinson in the auction description called "typical crude fish-eye portrait." Despite the odd depiction, this is actually a pretty decent example of Hormazd IV's drachms, with clear designs and inscriptions and a barely noticeable weak area on the obverse. The city of Rayy was formerly known as Rhagae and was a major mint city under the Parthians; today Rayy has been absorbed as a district of the expanding city of Tehran. The hammer price on this coin was $38, which is reasonable for a better-than-average drachm of Hormazd IV. Post your Hormazd IV coins, or any other portraits with crazy fish-eyed portraits.
Nice fish eye/coin, Parthicas. Ohrmazd (Hormizd) IV (579-590 A.D.) AR Drachm O: Facing bust, head right, wearing crown with tassel to left and surmounted by crescent with vertical lines; single-dotted border, crescent with star at 3, 6 and 9 o'clock. R: Fire altar with two attendants, wearing tall headgear, inside single-dotted border; no marks outside border. GW (Gurgan) mint, dated regnal year 9 = 587/8 CE. 32mm 4.1g Göbl, Sasanian Numismatics, Hormizd IV, crown type I, reverse type 1
Here is the only Hormazd IV in my son and I's collection. I don't think I would call it a "fish eye". I love the style of these coins.
from the Jayy mint: I love your wackier portrait style. A few days ago I compared this one to Lowly Worm, but I guess this awful portrait of Phocas has a comparable "fish eye":
I love that Phocas. If I squint really hard, tilt my head about 26 degrees to the right and suspend all disbelief, I can "almost" see a portrait
@dougsmit : Those are two nice coins, and I agree with your reading for both mintmarks as WYH and BYSh, respectively.
@Parthicus nice "fish eye". The fire altar on the reverse looks a bit like a fish hook with float on these as well! Here is one that looks like Hormizd IV and has an eye like yours. I believe it is a much later Western Turk imitation. Tokharistan, Western Turk, Turk Yagbus in Tokharistan, circa 600-680 AD (uncertain ruler imitating Hormizd IV, after 590 AD, fixed year 11), 32 mm, 3.78 grams Obverse: Crowned bust right, within circle, stars and crescents around. Reverse: Fire altar, attendants flanking, within circle. Countermarks of human head left and "PHRORO" in Baktrian. Imitation struck by the Western Turks after conquering Balkh about AD 590. Imitates a Balkh mint year 11 Drachm of Sassanian King Hormizd IV. The minting continued to the middle of the 7th cent. Nearly all of these carry two countermarks, a portrait cm and a Bactrian legend, "Phroro", attributed to Phromo Kesaro. The cm's were applied in the period 650-700 AD. Variously attributed to the Hephthalites / Nezak Huns.
I have a couple of these, too. Do we know for sure that they are truly imitations, or might they be genuine coins countermarked for local use? I assumed this was the correct attribution. This is the first time I've heard them attributed to Western Turks. Is there some overlap between these terms? I've seen the name Phromo Kesaro associated with this mint mark, but I have no idea who he was. When I search for information about him, all that seems to come up are discussions about or examples of his coins.
The attribution to the Western Turks comes from a short article by Dietrich Schnädelbach in ONS Newsletter 169 (Spring 2001). The claim is that these are year 11 Balkh mint coins, and the Western Turks took over Balkh in 589 or 590 AD. But... the ear ornament looks exactly like Arab-Sasanian coins post 650 AD. Thus the coins bear the wrong date, and must be imitations. The fire attendants on the reverse cross their arms left-over-right which is the opposite of Sasanian style. Khodadad Rezakhani manages two paragraphs giving all that is known.
Nice coin!...Here's mine.. Sasanian Kingdom. Hormizd IV. A.D. 579-590. AR drachm (31 mm, 3.56 g, 8 h). WYHC (uncertain site)Fars or Central Iraq.. RY 12. Last year of reign 590AD Obverse..Crowned bust of Hormizd IV right, crescent on forehead, stars flanking crown . Reverse..Fire altar with attendants and ribbon, star and crescent flanking flames. Göbl Type I/1.
