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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Parthicus, post: 4094545, member: 81887&quot;]It&#039;s time for another excursion into the world of contested Parthian attributions:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1065577[/ATTACH] </p><p>Parthian Kingdom.&nbsp; AR drachm.&nbsp; Artabanos II (Shore, Sellwood) aka Artabanos IV (Assar) (c. 10-38 AD) or possibly Orodes III (Assar) (c.6 AD).&nbsp; Ekbatana mint.&nbsp; Obverse: Diademed bust of king left, triangular beard. Right: Seated archer and Ekbatana mintmark, standard 7-line Greek legend &quot;Basilews Basilewn/ Arsakou/ Euergetou Dikaiou/ Epiphanous Philellenos&quot; (Of the Great King Arsakes, Benefactor, Just, God Manifest, Friend of the Greeks).&nbsp; Sellwood 61.7, Shore 337.&nbsp; This coin: Purchased from Allen G. Berman at the Baltimore show, November 2019.</p><p><br /></p><p>After the mother-son duo of Musa and Phraatakes were overthrown in 4 AD (see my previous article&nbsp; for details: <a href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/if-you-love-your-mother-so-much-why-dont-you-just-marry-her.350979/#post-3911792" class="internalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/if-you-love-your-mother-so-much-why-dont-you-just-marry-her.350979/#post-3911792">https://www.cointalk.com/threads/if-you-love-your-mother-so-much-why-dont-you-just-marry-her.350979/#post-3911792</a> ), Parthian politics became even messier than usual.&nbsp; A king called Orodes III, whose exact parentage is uncertain but was presumably part of the Arsakid family, was appointed by the nobles in 6 AD.&nbsp; However, he was soon accused of cruelty (a plausible accusation, if he was like his relatives) and was assassinated after a short reign.&nbsp; (He issued tetradrachms dated Dystros and Dystros Embolimos 317 SE [February-March 6 AD], which helps set some solid dates for our discussion.)&nbsp; The Parthian nobles then requested from Rome one of their &quot;guests&quot;, a son of Phraates IV who would rule as Vonones I (c.8-12 AD).&nbsp; Vonones, however, had acquired rather too Roman an outlook during his time abroad, and no longer cared for the manly Parthian diversions of hunting, feasting, or horseback-riding.&nbsp; Apparently this was enough to make the nobles rethink their choice, and about 10 AD they summoned Artabanos, an Arsakid who was serving as the king of the Parthian vassal Media Atropatene (roughly equivalent to modern Azerbaijan).&nbsp; (This Artabanos was called Artabanos II in the standard works by Selllwood and Shore, but Assar has plausibly renumbered him as Artabanos IV.)&nbsp; Artabanos fought against Vonones, losing a major initial battle but finally defeating and killing his rival in 12 AD.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>Drachms of Artabanos are among the most common of Parthian coins, but most of these are the Sellwood 63 type which show the king with a rectangular beard:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1065587[/ATTACH] </p><p>The Sellwood 61 type, with triangular beard, has usually been considered an earlier type by Artabanos; it is much scarcer than the rectangular-beard Type 63.&nbsp; However, in his essay in the Sunrise Collection, Assar suggests that Orodes III may have had a longer reign than usually believed, and that the Sellwood 61 type (triangular beard) actually represents a drachm issue of Orodes III.&nbsp; In this case, I don&#039;t find Dr. Assar&#039;s case very compelling.&nbsp; He does out that the gap of over two years from Orodes III&#039;s last known date of ~March 6 AD to Vonones&#039; appearance in 8 leaves a gap of over two years with no one claiming the Parthian throne, which seems like a rather long time.&nbsp; However, he doesn&#039;t have any direct evidence for a longer reign by Orodes III, and I think a stylistic comparison of the drachm portraits makes it likely that Types 61 and 63 were issued by the same king, which would have to be Artabanos.&nbsp; Consider that, if Assar&#039;s thesis is true, the sequence of drachm issues would be Type 61 (Orodes III)- Type 60 (Vonones I)- Type 63 (Artabanos).&nbsp; However, the drachms of Vonones I have a portrait that is rather distinct from 61 or 63:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1065598[/ATTACH] </p><p>Note that Vonones has very short hair in the back, and a slight waviness in his beard, while both Type 61 and 63 show the king with long hair in the back that has a slight wave at the top, and a beard of absolutely straight lines.&nbsp; While this is hardly definitive, given the stylized nature of the portraits, I believe that Types 61 and 63 are different versions of the same king&#039;s portrait, and thus Type 61 should retain its attribution to Artabanos.&nbsp;&nbsp; (Of course, I am happy to change my opinion if there is further evidence to be presented.)</p><p><br /></p><p>The Sellwood type 61 drachm is not truly rare, but it is considerably scarcer than the type 63 usually seen for the same king.&nbsp; I also like the dark toning on this piece; I was considering trying to clean it, but I have decided to leave the toning intact.&nbsp; Please post your related coins, comments on Parthian chronology, or whatever else you feel is relevant.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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