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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Parthicus, post: 7641704, member: 81887&quot;][ATTACH=full]1314002[/ATTACH] </p><p>Parthian Kingdom, Seleukia-on-the-Tigris mint.&nbsp; AR tetradrachm (27 mm, 10.36 g).&nbsp; Dated Daisios 285 Seleucid Era (May, 27 BC).&nbsp; Attribution to specific king disputed (see below).&nbsp; Obverse: Diademed bust of king left.&nbsp; Reverse: King enthroned facing left, holding scepter, Nike crowning king with diadem, standard Greek legend around, year date under throne, month Daisios in exergue.&nbsp; Sellwood 55.5-6, Shore 308, Sunrise 398.&nbsp; This coin: Stephen Album Auction 39, lot 2001 (January 21-25, 2021).</p><p><br /></p><p>Phraates IV (reigned 38-2 BC) was a son of the king Orodes II (57-38 BC).&nbsp; Orodes&#039; preferred heir was Pakoros, but unfortunately Pakoros was killed in battle in 38 BC, forcing the distraught Orodes to choose another heir.&nbsp; Phraates, however,&nbsp; would prove a poor choice, promptly murdering his father and his surviving brothers (to prevent any other claimants to the throne) and exiling various of their supporters.&nbsp; In 36 BC, the Roman triumvir Marc Antony led his troops through Armenia and into the Parthian client state of Media Atropatene, but Phraates attacked Antony&#039;s rear and forced him to retreat through Armenia and into Syria, suffering heavy losses along the way.&nbsp; Antony returned in 34 BC, and captured the king of Armenia by treachery, but he was forced to withdraw in 33 BC to deal with Octavian.&nbsp; Not long after this, a Parthian nobleman named Tiridates attempted to usurp the throne and had some success, but was ultimately forced to flee to the Romans (carrying as hostage a son of Phraates).&nbsp; In 20 BC, a peace conference with the Romans resulted in the return of the son, as well as the gift of a Roman slave-girl called Musa who quickly became the favorite courtesan, and then wife, of Phraates.&nbsp; She bore a son who was known as Phraatakes (Little Phraates).&nbsp; In 2 BC, Phraatakes and Musa conspired to kill Phraates and seize the throne, after which... well, I&#039;ve already written about that story, if you want to know more:</p><p><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></p><p><br /></p><p>This tetradrachm was sold as &quot;Phraates IV&quot;, ND (no date), attributed as &quot;Sell-7467&quot;.&nbsp; While the Phraates IV might be correct, the &quot;no date&quot; is wrong (the coin bears both year and month dates distinctly), and the Sellwood reference is clearly wrong (there is no 74.67, and such a number would belong to Artabanos V c.80-85 AD).&nbsp; The coin is in fact Sellwood 55.5-6 (the difference between 55.5 and 55.6 is one letter, which is not clear on my example).&nbsp; Both Sellwood and Shore attribute this type to the usurper Tiridates.&nbsp; Assar discusses the type thusly: &quot;However, even though the royal bust on the obverse resembles Phraates, because the forehead wart [an inherited condition, showing royal bloodline continuity], an invariable feature of Phraates&#039; coinage, is conspicuously absent on the known pieces in this group, their attribution to Phraates would be problematic.&nbsp; Perhaps the latter&#039;s turbulent reign was interrupted at different times by different contenders for the throne about whom history records nothing.&quot;&nbsp; So, the coin may be of Tiridates, or some other unknown usurper, or possibly a weird, wartless variant of Phraates IV.&nbsp; If only the Parthian kings had been in the habit of using their personal names on the coinage!&nbsp; Please share your coins of Phraates IV, or Tiridates, or whatever else is related.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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