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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;dougsmit, post: 1451809, member: 19463&quot;]Parthian coins present several problems compared to other ancients.&nbsp; Few of the rulers actually placed their name on the coins but, instead, used the name Arsakes (founder of the dynasty).&nbsp; Many added epithets like &#039;brother lover&#039; or &#039;great&#039; allowing ID along with the portraits.&nbsp; As pointed out, this one is later in the reign since it has headgear while younger versions from the same king are bare headed.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>David Sellwood&#039;s <b>An Introduction to the Coinage of Parthia</b> is a great book on Parthian with line drawings and interesting text in hand drawn calligraphy (not typeset).&nbsp; A similar value can be obtained from Fred Shore&#039;s book <b>Parthian Coins and History</b> which has good photos but is not quite as complete as Sellwood (especially in the bronzes).&nbsp; Parthia.com is a great online resource but not the easiest to use.&nbsp; I even have a couple web pages on Parthian but they are really beginner grade.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>We don&#039;t know a lot about the Parthians since they were not into written history and the Romans were their enemies rarely having anything nice to say.&nbsp; Collectors call their common silver coins &#039;drachms&#039; with larger &#039;tetradrachms&#039; sometimes available.&nbsp; The larger coins were made for use in the west where they interfaced with Greeks while the smaller and better silver drachms were probably the main coins in the bulk of the Parthian lands. </p><p><br /></p><p>I do note that Parthian coins have been increasing in price in the 20 years I have been interested in them.&nbsp; I believe this can be attributed to the Shore book which made it possible to collect them easily back in the 1990&#039;s when the book was in print.&nbsp;&nbsp; Now the book sells for more than most of the coins so I assume most people are getting their information from the web.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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