For this post, I'm discussing two separate recent coin purchases: 1. Parthian Kingdom. AR drachm. Phraates III (c.70-57 BC). Ekbatana mint. Obverse: Diademed bust left with short beard. Reverse: Seated archer right, mintmark under bow, seven-line Greek legend "Basileos Megalou/Arsakou/Epiphanous Kai Philellenos/ Philopatoros Euergetou" (Of the Great King Arsakes, Illustrious and Lover of the Greeks, Who Loves His Father, Beneficent). Trace of removed mount at top. Sellwood 36.4, Shore 150 (probably- mintmark and bottoms two lines of legend hard to read, thus exact catalogue number may be off). This coin: Frank S. Robinson Auction 106, lot 95 ($36). 2. Parthian Kingdom. AR drachm. Phraates III (c.70-57 BC). Rhagae mint. Obverse: Diademed bust left with long beard. Reverse: Seated archer right, mintmark below bow, six-line Greek legend "Basileos Megalou/Arsakou/ Euergetou/ Epiphanous/ Kai Philellenos" (Of the Great King Arsakes, Beneficent, Illustrious, and Loving the Greeks). Sellwood 38.5v. (reverse legend has "kai" before "philellenos"), Shore 171. This coin: Triskeles Auction 26, lot 310 ($140). Phraates III seems to have been the son of the Parthian king Sinatruces (c. 77-70 BC), and a surviving inscription claims he was the great-grandson of Phriapatios, the third Parthian king. During the early part of Phraates' reign, there was an active usurper (called Arsakes XVI by modern scholars) who may have been active for several years before finally being killed. Phraates also had contact with the Roman general (later triumvir) Pompey the Great. In 66 BC, Pompey received Phraates' assurance of Parthian neutrality in the ongoing disputes between Rome and Tigranes I of Armenia. However, soon afterwards Phraates supported a rebellious son of Tigranes I, called Tigranes the Younger, in an unsuccessful revolt against his father. Phraates was able to capture Gorduene (an area in northern Mesopotamia) from Tigranes I, but Pompey was not pleased, sending a very haughty letter to Phraates (addressing him simply as "King" rather than "King of Kings") and dispatching troops who forced the Parthian king to withdraw from Gorduene, restoring it to Tigranes. Almost nothing is known of the later part of Phraates' reign, as (per usual) Roman historians didn't write much about events that didn't involve Rome. In either 58 or 57 BC Phraates was murdered by his two sons, Mithradates III (or IV, by modern count) and Orodes II. Phraates III is important numismatically as the first king to use mintmarks as a regular feature of Parthian drachms (a few mintmarks or full mint names had appeared previously, but only sporadically). He is also interesting for having four very distinct major bust types, as I allude to in my title. The earliest type is Sellwood 36, the first coin shown here. It features a short beard, which makes sense for a relatively young king. Also, the reverse features an extra legend line, Philopatoros (loving his father), which may be an attempt to drum up support against the usurper Arsakes XVI by invoking Phraates' still-well-remembered father. The next major type was a facing bust, Sellwood type 35, with a seven-line reverse inscription including "Theopatoros" (Son of a God), indicating continued desire to associate himself with Sinatrukes. I have a nice example in bronze: The later two types, 38 and 39, feature six-line reverse legends with no reference of Phraates' father. Type 38, shown as coin #2 above, features the king with a long beard and wearing a diadem, while type 39 shows him wearing a horned diadem. I don't have a specimen at the moment, but here is a photo borrowed from CNG: The price I paid for coin #1 ($36) is absurdly low, while the price I paid for coin #2 ($140) is maybe a bit high given the slightly rough surfaces, so on average I think I did okay. Please post your coins of Phraates III, or other rulers who show multiple distinct portrait styles, or whatever else you think is related.
I have two bronzes of Phraates III. Drachms were very much part of my high school period of Parthian collecting, now I'm more after bronzes. Here's one, unfortunately a small pic. A tiara with little deer all over it and horns at the sides, one wonders how it must have looked for real! Phraates III (70-58). AE17. Obv. King’s head to the left with a tiara studded with little deer. Rev. Horse jumping to the right squared with 7 lines of text. 17 mm, 3.94 gr. Sellwood 39.19.
Great, informative post, Parthicus. I'll add a drachm with facing bust, Sunrise 326, Sellwood 35.1 variant (legend ii):
