Thought I'd share this recent purchase, a lovely little Sasanian obol: Sasanian Kingdom. AR obol (15mm, 0.69g). Shahpur II (309-379 AD). Obverse: King's crowned bust right. Reverse: Zoroastrian fire-altar with two attendants, bust of Ahura-Mazda in flames. Shahpur II's 70-year reign is the longest in Sasanian history, but the official dates include his entire childhood prior to his taking the throne from his regents at age 16. Indeed, one charming story has it that Shahpur II was declared king prior to his birth, with a miniature crown placed on his pregnant mother's belly. This seems unlikely, as at that time there was no way to know for sure that the unborn baby was male, but the story was too interesting for me to ignore. Regardless, Shahpur would prove an able king, especially on the military front, and his reign is considered a high point of Sasanian history. During his childhood, Arab raiders attacked along the Persian Gulf coast, plundering and destroying a number of towns in southern Persia. At age 16 Shahpur led a punitive expedition deep into the Arabian Peninsula, and defeated many of the Arab tribes, killing many warriors and taking others as slaves. One bit of cruelty stands out: He had his prisoners' shoulders pierced, so that a rope or leather thong could be inserted to make it easier for their captors to drag them along. For this he was called "Dhu al-Aktaf", "The Shoulder-Piercer." In the West, Shahpur fought several times against the Eastern Romans, including Constantius II and Julian; he killed Julian in 363 and forced his successor Jovian to renounce Roman claims to lands east of the Tigris. In the East, Shahpur conquered almost all the remaining territory of the Kushan Empire (most of modern Afghanistan and Pakistan). Overall, Shahpur's reign saw a great expansion of Sasanian territory and was a high point of their military strength. While this coin has the same design as the usual Sasanian drachm, this is actually an obol. Bob L. recently posted an excellent overview of Parthian silver fractions, in which he highlighted how scarce those are compared to the standard drachms. Well, Sasanian fractional silver is similarly scarce, so I try to buy nice pieces whenever they are available. This came from a recent CNG auction. Hope you enjoyed this, and please post your relevant coins.
@Parthicus GREAT coin, GREAT story! I enjoyed that! Ugh, I was pointing at spots on my shoulder where the would have pierced it, but kept the prisoner from bleeding to death. I had a terrible shoulder injury a few years ago, that was brutal bone pain. Just imagining those prisoners' anguish! I only have these two Sassanians... But I got Shapur I because he captured Valerian at the Battle of Edessa... and because it is Bronze vs. most Sassanians that I have seen are Silver. Sassanian Shapur I 240-272 CE AE Tetradrachm 10.78g 27mm Ctesiphon mint phase 1a mural crown korymbos - fire altar type 2 SNS IIa1-1a (This guy did NOT like Valerian...) Persia Sassanian Ardashir III 628-629 CE AR Drachm 36mm 3.85g Zoroastrian Fire Alter Gobl II-1 yr 2 Delta RARE
that's an awesome obol! reminded me of this sassanian influenced coin with a prominant head as part of the fire altar. Arab Bukhara, Abassid Caliph Al-Mahdi, 775-785 AD. Billon drachm. O: Bust right, Arabic legend behind (Al-Madhi), Sogdian legend before. R: Fire altar, head right. 26 mm, 2.5 g I think @Ancientnoob told me who the head was on this coin, but i don't remember. is it the head of a zoroastian god on an early islamic coin???
