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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Parthicus, post: 4554919, member: 81887&quot;]I&#039;ve finally gotten around to posting these two Parthian drachms that I got at the Baltimore coin show in November 2019:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1127823[/ATTACH] </p><p>Coin 1: Parthian Kingdom.&nbsp; Nisa.&nbsp; AR drachm.&nbsp; Orodes II (57-38 BC).&nbsp; Obverse: Diademed bust left, crescent behind, star before.&nbsp; Reverse: Seated archer right, Nisa mintmark below bow, anchor behind throne, somewhat blundered Greek legend around.&nbsp; Sellwood 47.10.&nbsp; This coin: Bought at Whitman Baltimore coin show, November 2019.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1127824[/ATTACH] </p><p>Coin 2: Parthian Kingdom.&nbsp; Margiana.&nbsp; AR drachm.&nbsp; Phraates IV (38-2 BC).&nbsp; Obverse: Diademed bust left, eagle holding wreath behind.&nbsp; Reverse: Seated archer right, Margiana mintmark below bow, blundered Greek legend around.&nbsp; Sellwood 52.19, Shore 284.&nbsp; This coin: Bought at the Whitman Baltimore coin show, November 2019.</p><p><br /></p><p>(Note: Some text below is recycled from an earlier post.&nbsp; Why rephrase when I said it correctly the first time?)</p><p><br /></p><p>Orodes II was a son of the Parthian king Phraates III. Around 57 BC, he teamed up with his brother Mithradates III (or IV, by modern reckoning) to murder their father and seize power. 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. He fought several times against Rome, most importantly the Battle of Carrhae in 53 BC where the Roman Triumvir Crassus was killed. 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. This was a terrible choice. Phraates promptly killed his father, then killed all thirty of so of his brothers (and their families) to avoid potential rivals. Phraates also fought against Rome, but eventually concluded a peace treaty with Augustus that was commemorated on an extensive series of Roman coins. As part of the deal, Phraates received a beautiful Roman courtesan, Musa, who quickly insinuated her way into his heart. Musa became queen, and bore him a son Phraataces (&quot;little Phraates&quot;). However, in 2 BC Musa and Phraataces murdered Phraates and took over the throne. Mother and son then married each other... but that&#039;s another story, for another time.</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. 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, Ecbatana is the most common, followed (in rough order) by Rhagae and Mithradatkart, then Laodicea and Nisa, then Kangavar, Susa, Traxiane, Margiane and Aria.</p><p><br /></p><p>Margiana is not a city, rather it is a district located in the eastern region of the Parthian realm, roughly what is now eastern Turkmenistan.&nbsp; Most of the coins with this mintmark are the &quot;Sanabares&quot; series of bronze drachms, issued by a rebel (and probably his successors) starting in the mid-1st century AD.&nbsp; Silver drachms with this mintmark, and in the name of the main Parthian kings, are rather rare.&nbsp; Nisa was a major city for the Parthians, also located in what is now Turkmenistan.&nbsp; Interestingly, Mithradatkart, the fortified citadel located just a few kilometers from the city, was a major Parthian mint at the same time that Nisa produced its relative trickle of coinage.&nbsp; It seems odd that two mints were operated so close to each other simultaneously, but the evidence that this happened is very strong.&nbsp; Perhaps Nisa was used as an &quot;overflow&quot; facility that only operated when Mithradatkart had trouble meeting its quota?&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>I found both of these scarce coins by searching through a dealer&#039;s &quot;pick-your-own&quot; box of around 100 or so Parthian drachms (I think it was $50 per coin, loose and unidentified). There are definitely interesting and scarce coins out there, available cheaply, to those who are willing to learn how to recognize them.&nbsp; Please post your own scarce varieties that you &quot;cherry-picked&quot;.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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