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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Parthicus, post: 2931835, member: 81887&quot;]A Frank Robinson auction win:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]712063[/ATTACH] </p><p>Sasanian Empire.&nbsp; AR drachm.&nbsp; Peroz (457-484 AD).&nbsp; Obverse: Bust right in crown.&nbsp; Reverse: Fire-altar with two attendants, star and moon above; mintmark AYL (uncertain city in central Iraq or northeastern Iran), date gibberish.</p><p><br /></p><p>In 457, the Sasanian king Yazdegard III died.&nbsp; His oldest son, Peroz, would by custom be the successor, but Peroz was stationed as governor of Sistan province in central Asia, far from the capitol of Ctesiphon on the Tigris.&nbsp; In Peroz&#039; absence, his younger brother seized the throne and began to reign as Hormazd III.&nbsp; Peroz was able to obtain help from the Hephthalites to wage civil war, and by 459 seized Ctesiphon and captured Hormazd, ending the civil war.&nbsp; Accounts differ on whether Peroz executed his brother or pardoned him; regardless, much of his reign would be spent in war.&nbsp; He first subdued a rebellious feudatory in the Caucasus.&nbsp; Next, he attempted peace with the Kidarites who had invaded parts of Transoxiana by offering his sister in marriage to the Kidarite king.&nbsp; However, Peroz tried to cheat and instead sent a low-status woman in her place.&nbsp; When the Kidarites found out, they moved to open warfare, but the Sasanians were successful and forced the Kidarites out of Transoxiana.&nbsp; A seven-year drought and famine struck from 464 to 471, and Peroz is credited with limiting the amount of death and suffering by careful management and sending relief supplies to the affected areas.&nbsp; Despite their earlier aid in bringing him to the throne, he fought three wars with the Hephthalites.&nbsp; Twice he was captured and had to pay huge ransoms for his release; the third time, in 484, he was killed in battle.&nbsp; On this coin portrait, the shape of the crown and the king&#039;s beard look (to me) like a helmet with chin-strap, an appropriate image of a warrior king.</p><p><br /></p><p>Drachms of Peroz are fairly common.&nbsp; The reverse has a mintmark, a feature of Sasanian drachms that had started during the reign of Varahran IV (388-399).&nbsp; Peroz added the regnal year to the reverse design, however on many specimens like this one, the &quot;year&quot; is so badly blundered as to be gibberish.&nbsp; On this coin, all I can see is several dots and the letter N.&nbsp; I don&#039;t know why the dates are often poorly executed while the mint marks remain clear.&nbsp; This coin was $45 in Frank Robinson&#039;s auction.&nbsp; Post your Sasanians, Kushans, or Kidarites here.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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