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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;krispy, post: 2030642, member: 19065&quot;]I often read, admire and “like” many of the threads and images of Ancient and Medieval coins that folks share in this forum, but not being an Ancient nor Medieval collector, apart from owning a couple of Ancient Roman pieces (one acquired from this forum), I usually haven’t much to add to your threads. That said, I love history and appreciate the skills and artistry of the ancient world very much, and make efforts to visit such historic sites when traveling.</p><p><br /></p><p>Over the recent holiday weekend, while visiting <a href="http://www.asia.si.edu/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.asia.si.edu/" rel="nofollow">The Freer | Sackler Galleries</a> at The Smithsonian Museum’s of Asian Art in Washington D.C., I was enjoying a small gallery on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sasanian_Empire" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sasanian_Empire" rel="nofollow">Sasanian </a>and early Iranian culture, which featured amazing craftsmanship in ornate precious metal objects, like gold pitchers and silver pictorial plates, and even some animalistic earthenware vessels. At the end of the gallery was a vertical <i>Plexiglas</i> vitrine holding about nine coins, all silver in composition, and each floating at about eye level for viewing.</p><p><br /></p><p>Viewing coins in galleries is usually a pain and of course it was dimly lit and difficult to see the coins, let alone make photos of them. The case was against the wall so it wasn’t possible to see the opposite sides of each piece and certainly not possible to photograph. Photography was permitted (I asked) but with reflections and shooting at odd angles, a nearly fruitless task. Still, I endured as I enjoyed the coins offered for review in the exhibition.</p><p><br /></p><p>So, I thought I would share what little I could and even with the poor image quality, present these images and information with this forum, to return the favor of so many of the threads you’ve provided for others to take in and consider. It is hard to pair the coins with their atributions, given that they are floating in odd arrangement above the gallery labels in the base of the vitrine. I think the curator(s) could have done significantly better than this!</p><p><br /></p><p><span style="color: #000066">I was also curious if anyone has insights into the gallery label. It suggests that after the Sasanian culture was absorbed into Arab culture, older coin patterns continued to be used. Was the evolution of the design to more &quot;abstract&quot; geometric designs a result of Islam’s intolerance(?) of representational imagery, such as portraiture? The gallery card doesn’t explain in depth, but it was what I considered to be the case. What do you think/know about it?&nbsp; See the part, &quot;Over time, the image of the ruler was abstracted into an almost geometric form.&quot;</span></p><p><br /></p><p>Also, if you have never been and ever get to go to Washington D.C., there are MANY chances to see numismatic collections in institutions such as the The Smithsonian&#039;s <a href="http://americanhistory.si.edu/numismatics/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://americanhistory.si.edu/numismatics/" rel="nofollow">National Numismatic Collection</a> (US Coins), or the <a href="http://www.usmint.gov/mint_tours/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.usmint.gov/mint_tours/" rel="nofollow">U.S. Mint</a> or <a href="http://www.moneyfactory.gov/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.moneyfactory.gov/" rel="nofollow">Bureau of Engraving and Printing</a>. I think some of the users of this Ancient and World forum may not reside in the States or might not have visited the U.S. capital before, so if you do visit, there are some things related to coin collecting to see. Most all of these institutions offer free admission and are open most every day of the year, including many major holidays, the exception usually being Christmas day.</p><p><br /></p><p>Thanks for checking out this thread. If you have any related coins or info to post, please add to the thread and let’s see what we can learn.</p><p><br /></p><p>Regards!</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="color: #0000ff">Iran </span></p><p><span style="color: #0000ff">Silver</span></p><p><span style="color: #0000ff">Lent by the Smithsonian Institution,</span></p><p><span style="color: #0000ff">National Museum of American History</span></p><p><span style="color: #0000ff">Kenneth E. Behring Center</span></p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://i776.photobucket.com/albums/yy46/kcttck/Ancient%20-%20Sasanian%20and%20Early%20Iranian/P1080657s_zps1f0c8dbb.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://i776.photobucket.com/albums/yy46/kcttck/Ancient%20-%20Sasanian%20and%20Early%20Iranian/P1080655_alt_zpsa46bdf54.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p><b>Ardashir</b></p><p><img src="http://i776.photobucket.com/albums/yy46/kcttck/Ancient%20-%20Sasanian%20and%20Early%20Iranian/Ardashir_02_zpsf2cfe0f2.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p><b>Umar Ubaydallah</b></p><p><img src="http://i776.photobucket.com/albums/yy46/kcttck/Ancient%20-%20Sasanian%20and%20Early%20Iranian/UmarUbaydallah_02_zps24acb159.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p><b>Kushrow II</b></p><p><img src="http://i776.photobucket.com/albums/yy46/kcttck/Ancient%20-%20Sasanian%20and%20Early%20Iranian/KushrowII_02_zpsbf74d647.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p><b>Sulayman ibn Musa</b></p><p><img src="http://i776.photobucket.com/albums/yy46/kcttck/Ancient%20-%20Sasanian%20and%20Early%20Iranian/SulaymanibnMusa_zps46a037fc.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b>Shapir I</b></p><p><img src="http://i776.photobucket.com/albums/yy46/kcttck/Ancient%20-%20Sasanian%20and%20Early%20Iranian/Shapir1_04_zps0772fe92.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b>Shapir I</b></p><p><img src="http://i776.photobucket.com/albums/yy46/kcttck/Ancient%20-%20Sasanian%20and%20Early%20Iranian/Shapir1_01_zpse011df03.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b>Narseh</b></p><p><img src="http://i776.photobucket.com/albums/yy46/kcttck/Ancient%20-%20Sasanian%20and%20Early%20Iranian/Narseh_02_zps3561488c.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b>Ardashir III</b></p><p><img src="http://i776.photobucket.com/albums/yy46/kcttck/Ancient%20-%20Sasanian%20and%20Early%20Iranian/Ardashir_III_01_zps3ce9504f.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p><font size="3"><span style="color: #0000ff"><br /></span></font></p><p><font size="3"><span style="color: #0000ff">Please post any corrections if the attributions I paired with the pictures are inaccurate. Thanks.</span></font>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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