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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Parthicus, post: 2837354, member: 81887&quot;]Another cool coin from Frank Robinson&#039;s auction (he should start paying me for all the publicity I&#039;ve been giving him lately):</p><p>[ATTACH=full]670364[/ATTACH] </p><p>Parthian Kingdom, Seleucia-on-Tigris mint.&nbsp; AR tetradrachm.&nbsp; Gotarzes II (40-51 AD), dated Apellaios, 359 Seleucid Era (=November, 47 AD).&nbsp; Obverse: Diademed bust of king left. Reverse: Seated king receives diadem from Tyche holding cornucopia; standard legend around &quot;Basilews basilewn/ Arsakou euergetou/ Dikaiou/ Epiphanou philellenou&quot; (King of Kings Arsaces, Benefactor, Just, God Manifest, Friend of the Greeks), in exergue partial month name.&nbsp; Cf. Sellwood 65.18-19 (month unlisted for this year), Shore 360v.</p><p><br /></p><p>Gotarzes II was not a nice guy.&nbsp; He overthrew his brother to claim the throne, and proceeded to execute many other family members and other nobles who he perceived to be a threat.&nbsp; Eventually a group of nobles went to Rome and asked for a replacement king to be sent for them.&nbsp; Meherdates, a son of Vonones I living at Rome, was sent back to overthrow Gotarzes.&nbsp;&nbsp; Unfortunately Meherdates was betrayed by some of his allies and captured alive.&nbsp; Gotarzes chose to show mercy and spare Meherdates&#039; life, but sliced off his ears with a sword, as a physically mutilated man would not be accepted as king by the Parthians.&nbsp; (When your kindest recorded act is mutilating a man, it&#039;s safe to say you are not a kind person.)&nbsp; Gotarzes died soon afterwards, whether by natural causes or murder is not certain.</p><p><br /></p><p>Most Parthian tetradrachms (other than certain early issues) bear a date using the Seleucid calendar system, and this date normally includes the month as well as the year.&nbsp; Unfortunately, the month is at the very bottom part of the reverse legend, and that area is often off the flan.&nbsp; Parthian coin connoisseurs thus seek out tetradrachms where the month is clear and easily readable.&nbsp; What makes this example so special is that the month/year combination Apellaios 359 (November 47) is not listed in the standard references Sellwood and Shore, and as far as I know is completely unpublished.&nbsp; The existence of such a date is not surprising- Sellwood lists December 47- but it is a reminder that plenty of unpublished varieties are still out there.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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