About 4 years ago I bought the slabbed Parthian silver drachm at auction, pictured below, when the market for Parthian coins was rather soft. At that point I had sold all my Parthian coins except for one and wasn't looking for any more until I saw this coin. The bizarre looking crown with a bulls horn on the side and 8 small stags attached, that the king was wearing, intrigued me . I thought to myself who would wear such a crazy looking thing . Phraates was murdered by his two sons, Orodes II and Mithridates III. Maybe they wanted that crown he was wearing . Lately the market for Parthian coins has gotten a lot stronger . After browsing through a recent CNG and Heritage auction I was surprised at many of the prices realized. Pictured below is a rare Phraates III drachm from CNG that sold for $1,800.00. The coin had previously sold at Peus 338, lot 133, April 27, 1994, and was described as (conserved since). I guess that means cleaned. The coin appears to have toned-up nicely since then. Photo courtesy of CNG. Another drachm of Phraates III, from the Rhagai Mint, pictured below, sold for $312.00, with an estimate of $150.00. Photo courtesy of CNG. However the real knockout came from Heritage, pictured below. This handsome coin realized $4,800.00 with an estimate of $2,000.00.
This lovely coin is sure a good candidate for the weird headgear thread: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/we...rous-diadems-if-you-got-them-go-ahead.347140/
That coin is a stunner, well done! On my list of coins to get, and that outrageous hat is a big part of the draw. Speaking of the market for Parthians picking up, I got properly Clio'd in the last CNG feature auction on a wonderful Orodes II tetradrachm. Ex-sunrise too. It was in the bag until literally the last second =/
That is one of the reasons I have pretty much stopped buying them. The other is I am unable to follow the arguments, mostly in Sunrise, reattributing so many of the coins. I bought my funny hat as Sinatruces. There was a time 30 years ago I thought I had one of these but now realize the drachm is an obvious cast fake. That leaves me only with this AE17 which I got in 1994 and still believe in.
Great coin & yeah, I noticed how much they have gone up & it figures when I am slowly getting some little by little. I put 2 over $100 bids on some not in the best of shape this past weekend and got wiped out. Would have done better on VC.
Doug, 30 years ago I might have been duped on that front facing drachm of Phraates III . The drachm of Sinaturces is a razor sharp strike .
@Al Kowsky Why do you think the first coin is Phraates III? Like Doug, I thought it was Sinatrukes. Sinatrukes (circa 93/2-70/69 BC). AR drachm (4.12 gm). Rhagai mint [= Ray, Iran] Obv: Diademed bust left, wearing tiara decorated with taurine horn and duplex torque with stags Rev: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΜΕΓΑΛΟΥ ΑΡΣΑΚΟΥ ΘΕΟΠΑΤΡΟΥ ΝΙΚΑΤΟΡΟΣ ([Of the] Great King, Arsaces, whose father is a God, Victorious) (Of Great King Arsaces, of Divine Descent, Benefactor, God Manifest, Lover of Greek Culture); Archer enthroned right, examining bow. Ref: Sunrise 302, Sellwood 33.4 In an NGC slab marked "Fine Style" Are there any theories about the dots on the hat stags? Do they model something that was really present on Sinatrukes' crown? Or an artistic convention? Or an engravers' convention to reduce deterioration of the die?
Ed, Please read my comment to Doug again. I didn't say the 1st coin was Phraates III, I said the front facing drachm was Phraates III, not the 1st coin . Thanks for the translation on the reverse. Those Parthians were pretty arrogant weren't they ? Your coin of Sinaturces is a nice sharp strike too . I would guess the added dots on the stags was just a way to accent the design, so when the coin was struck more metal would flow into the stags. Just a theory of course...
I am trying to figure out how these are supposed to be attributed. Your photo of the first coin says Phraates III, not your text. That makes sense because the slab says it too. I can't tell the difference between your 1st coin and the coin I posted. Is it the five-line vs seven-line reverse inscription? https://www.ngccoin.com/certlookup/3482310-024/NGCAncients/ Phraates III https://www.ngccoin.com/certlookup/3815559-007/NGCAncients/ Sinatruces It isn't just the slabbing company. Here are two coins in the same CNG auction that look similar to me, one for Phraates III, the other for Sinatruces: https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=389781 Phraates III https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=389772 Sinatrukes Although I have Fred Shore's book I mostly look at Parthia.com. To me some of these coins look like they were done by the same engraver of the same king. http://parthia.com/gotarzes1.htm http://parthia.com/phraates3.htm
Ed, I have no expertise with Parthian coinage. Doug mentions that many changes have occurred with the attributions of Parthian coinage since the days of Fred Shore's book, & it's true. I'm sure the experts at NGC & CNG have kept pace with these changes & have access to info that us casual collectors don't. Hopefully some day a publication with all these changes will reach the casual collector. There are three things we all can bank on: taxes, death, & change.
Very nice coin @Al Kowsky I am looking for my first Parthian coin, and I agree, the prices are getting stronger. I am trying to get a coin from the more 'founder' kings, like Arsaces I/II, Mithridates I/II or Phraates II.
Pavlos, Why don't you shoot for a drachm of Mithradates II ? He was the most powerful Parthian king, there are many varieties of his coins, his coins are by far the most artistic, & they are plentiful . My only other Parthian coin is from Mithradates II, pictured below. It was struck at the Ekbatana Mint, c. 119-109 BC, 3.94 gm, 20 mm, 12 h. I overpaid for the coin long ago but don't regret it .
I second the nomination of Mithradates II as the first Parthian to own. I consider the dotted stags just a part of the work of a die engraver whose style was to drill?/punch? dots and then play 'connect the dots'. Some in the legends are very obvious and deep but you see/imagine traces even in the portrait. I believe even the facial hair started as small, shallow dots and then was scratched between looking like hairs. Not every cutter worked this way. These people were artists each with distinct ideas of what was to be done and how to do it.
Doug, Your theory makes sense. Nearly all the reverse lettering you see on Parthian coinage is done with the dot-drill technique, so why not employ on the obverse side if you can successfully disguise it . Your Mithradates II drachm is a handsome coin with the king looking rather stern. This coin has a feature missing from my example & most drachms, a half dragon body emerging from the head of the torque . It took amazing skill for the celator to include this feature in such a small coin . This feature isn't often seen on the larger Tets for that matter. The Tet pictured below I sold almost two years ago, & you'll notice just a head appearing at the top of the torque. BTW it sold for $2,160.00 at Heritage . Mithradates II, Struck c. 120-109 BC, Seleucia on the Tigris Mint, 15.77 gm, 30 mm, 12 h. Shore 66, Sellwood 24.3, Sunrise 281.
