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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Parthicus, post: 3120354, member: 81887&quot;]I recently won these two Parthian drachms from a CNG auction:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]793836[/ATTACH] </p><p>Coin 1.&nbsp; Parthian Kingdom.&nbsp; AR drachm (20.5 mm, 3.79 g).&nbsp; Orodes II (57-38 BC).&nbsp; Kangavar mint.&nbsp; Obverse: Diademed bust left.&nbsp; Reverse: Seated archer surrounded by blundered 7-line Greek legend, Kangavar mint-mark under bow.&nbsp; Reverse double-struck.&nbsp; Sellwood 43.3, Shore 415.&nbsp; This coin: CNG 422, lot 335 (ex Nisa Collection).</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]793837[/ATTACH] </p><p>Coin 2.&nbsp; Parthian Kingdom.&nbsp; AR drachm (22 mm, 3.80 g).&nbsp; Phraates IV (38-2 BC).&nbsp; Susa mint.&nbsp; Obverse: Diademed bust left, star before, eagle carrying crown behind.&nbsp; Reverse: Seated archer surrounded by 7-line Greek legend, mintmark below bow, palm branch behind throne.&nbsp; Slightly scyphate flan.&nbsp; Sellwood 53.9-10 (exact variety of mintmark unclear).&nbsp; This coin: CNG 422, lot 338 (ex Nisa Collection).</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Orodes II was a son of the Parthian king Phraates III.&nbsp; Around 57 BC, he teamed up with his brother Mithradates III to murder their father and seize power.&nbsp; The brothers soon quarreled, and after a couple of years Orodes II was able to defeat and kill his brother and claim the throne uncontested.&nbsp; He fought several times against Rome, most importantly the Battle of Carrhae in 53 BC where the Roman Triumvir Crassus was killed.&nbsp; In 38 BC his favorite son and heir apparent was killed fighting in Roman Syria, leaving a distraught Orodes to name one of his other sons, Phraates IV, his designated successor.&nbsp; This was a terrible choice.&nbsp; Phraates promptly killed his father, then killed all thirty of so of his brothers (and their families) to avoid potential rivals.&nbsp; Phraates also fought against Rome, but eventually concluded a peace treaty with Augustus that was commemorated on an extensive series of Roman coins.&nbsp; As part of the deal, Phraates received a beautiful Roman courtesan, Musa, who quickly insinuated her way into his heart.&nbsp; Musa became queen, and bore him a son Phraataces (&quot;little Phraates&quot;).&nbsp; However, in 2 BC Musa and Phraataces murdered Phraates and took over the throne.&nbsp; Mother and son then married each other, which seems to have been unpopular as they were shortly afterwards overthrown by the Parthian nobles.</p><p><br /></p><p>I already had multiple coins of each of these rulers; what attracted me to these coins was the scarcer mintmarks.&nbsp; Both Orodes II and Phraates IV issued drachms from many mints, probably due to their long reigns during which they controlled the Iranian plateau, where most of the mints were located. In my experience,&nbsp; Ecbatana is the most common, followed (in rough order) by Rhagae and Mithradatkart, then Laodicea and Nisa, then Kangavar, Susa, Traxiane, Margiane and Aria.&nbsp; Kangavar was (and still is) a city in northwestern Iran, not far from Hamadan (Ecbatana).&nbsp; The city is mentioned in a 1st century AD source, and archaeologists have found a possible temple of Anahita, but overall the city seems to have always been rather small and unimportant.&nbsp; Susa, in southwestern Iran, is a very ancient city, with evidence of habitation as early as 7000 BC.&nbsp; It is mentioned in the Bible and plays a key role in the Biblical story of Esther.&nbsp; It was used as the winter capital for the Parthian kings, but despite this its output of coinage was quite modest.&nbsp; The city was finally abandoned in 1218 after being destroyed by the Mongols.&nbsp; Post your coins of Orodes II or Phraates IV, or coins rare Parthian mints, or whatever else you can plausibly claim is related.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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