Another of my auction wins that I am writing up when I get the chance: Characene. AE tetradrachm (26 mm, 15.88 g). Maga (late 2nd-early 3rd century AD). Obverse: Head right with pointed beard and hair in rolls, Aramaic inscription around given in catalogues as Ma'ga z'l Astab'laz Malka (Maga, son of King Athabiaos). Reverse: Draped bust right with pointed beard, wearing diadem and tiara, uncertain legend around. BMC 16, Alarm 510, Sear Greek Imperial 5932. This coin: Pars Coins Auction 1 (April 8, 2019), lot 139. Characene was a Parthian vassal kingdom, located along the lower Tigris River where it empties into the Persian Gulf. The capital city was called Charax Spasinou, named after the founder of the kingdom, Hyspaosines. Unfortunately, very little is known about the history of the kingdom; even the names of many of the kings are known only from their coins. The coinage consists mainly of tetradrachms, which start out as good silver but degrade to billon and finally pure bronze in the later issues. The Maga who issued this coin seems to be the final coin-issuing king of Characene. I bought this coin because it fits in well with my collection of Parthian and Parthian-related coins, as Characene was a vassal to the Parthians. Also, the portraits (especially the one I called the obverse) have a pleasing but simple, almost cartoonish artistic aspect that I enjoy. Please share your coins of Characene below (if you have any- this seems to be an unpopular collecting area).
MAGA, the king, was making future slogans great again 1700 years ago. LOL Fantastic MAGA coin. Thanks for the laugh with the title . It's a shame we don't know a lot about the king and the life of his people, but that's very common with a lot of these small eastern kingdoms.
