Nice example! (Glad to see he was finally captured and entombed. JK!) ;-) Interesting fact about this ruler's drachms: They are a candidate for the title of being the most common non-Roman extant coin type. Interesting fact about this ruler: He's directly associated with the history of "the true Cross", because when he sacked Jerusalem in 614 AD his army absconded with the Cross and took it to Ctesiphon. Interesting fact about this ruler's name: Researching him online (either historically or numismatically) can be a challenge because of so many different spellings of his name. I kid you not when I say that I have seen each of the following used: Khusro, Khusru, Xusro, Khosrau, Khusrau, Khosrau, and Chosroes. Here's a wonderful primer (and basic ID aid) to this genre of coinage: https://en.numista.com/numisdoc/identification-of-sasanian-coins-186.html Below is my Khusro II drachm: Ruler: Khusro II, 591-628 AD, (dated: year 26) Mint: Jayy in Ishfahan Weight: 4.12 g. Diam.: 32 mm. Attribution: Göbl II/2
I somehow missed this thread. Welcome to the wonderful world of Sasanian numismatics. NGC certainly did not do a good job of centering the coin in the slab. The real Khrusru (pronounced Hus-ru if the podcast So You Think You Can rule Persia? is correct) was imprisoned in the awesomely named Castle of Oblivion. It's probably Heraclian propaganda, but he allegedly wrote a letter to Heraclius addressing Heraclius as a 'vile, imbecile slave." Coins of Khrusru II are really neat, but generally quite afordable in VF or above, ranging from $30 to $125, depending upon the dealer. Although I'm still pretty hopeless at reading the Pahlavi dates and mint marks (I have to ask for help), I probably have maybe 20? drachms of this ruler.
For those who don't know, Khrusru II took advantage of Phocas usurping the ROman/Byzantine throne, and he advanced the Persian borders to almost that of the old Persian Empire, before finally being defeated by Heraclius. Soon after Khrusru was overthrown, the entire Sasanian realm fell to the new Islamic state. Rome continued 800 years more as a rump state.
