I know few here share my attraction to Sasanian drachms but I'll post these two new ones from FSR 104. When I buy a Sasanian drachm I really try to select ones that I think I can ID to mint and date (if they are issues so inscribed) even if the dealer has listed these features. I thought these two were clear enough to be easy. 'Easy' and 'Sasanian' do not always play together. First is a Kavad I Frank called Ray mint year 18. I agree but prefer to list mints using the letter codes as shown on the coin. Looking up the mint on grifterrec.com showed the mint as LD with the interesting note 'Mochiri's RY'. The fact that different sources can read the two letter mintmarks that differently probably explains why many people do not collect these coins. Another reason is that most specimens have voids lacking detail due to the thin flans (this is 31mm and 4.06g) . This is not bad with one bad void on the left side attendant (which looks less human than any I have seen) but has clear legends. The second is Hormizd IV Nivhavand year 12 (32mm 4.08g). This translates to NAH which strikes me as clear but I have been unable to find a photo of a similar coin with which I can compare. The bad void is dead center on the reverse ruining the altar but leaving really great legends. grifterrec.com lists NAH as an unknown mint so I assume Frank was working with a more recent book than anything I own. I would like a good book on Sasanian but am still smarting from buying the two volume National Museum of Iran set by Curtis et al which I consider a poor fit for my needs (anyone want a good used set?). Those interested in Sasanian are invited to comment/correct the ID's here or show examples from their collections. We also might discuss what about these coins turns off so many collectors. Is it their style is non-classical? Is it the boring lack of reverse types? I admit the style will have to grow on you compared to the photo-realism of Greek and Roman coins. I have trouble putting to words what it is that makes me like or dislike something so I am asking a lot for comments on this matter.
Very nice acquisitions! Sometimes I can read them, sometimes I fail miserably. We are in good company, even among the most learned of interpreters. In Greek, Semitic, and Asiatic Coins, Richard Plant has this to say... A worse feature of the Pahlavi script is the way scribes were quite accustomed to write one letter, say L, when they really meant another, say R. As Pahlavi, even without this "nasty little habit" suffers, in a greater degree than any other North Semitic alphabet, from ambiguity of letter shapes; and as the legends on the coins are blurred anyway, Sasanian coins are extremely hard to read. [p. 72]
As soon as I saw one I was interested due to the style. Very unique with winged crowns and fire (being shiny and big in circumference didn't hurt). But like you, sometimes it's hard for me to put words to what draws us in. I have one with a "void" in the middle as well. It's strange. The void is up to the left of his head just below the winged crown. But takes out one of the attendants on the right of the reverse as a bubble. I wonder what might've caused it? Khusro II:591-628(Son of Khusro I)
Vey nice coins Doug. I especially like the second coin, of Hormizd IV. It is the kind of coin that could easily draw me into Sasanians.
I concur with Doug's readings on both mintmarks, those two are about as clear as you can reasonably hope with Sasanian coins. As for why Sasanian coins are a niche area even among ancients collectors: I think the highly stylized designs are part of the explanation, but I think it's mainly due to lack of knowledge of Persian (and other non-Western) history. Ask the average person about ancient Rome- they can probably at least name Julius Caesar, maybe Augustus, mention something about gladiators or togas... there's at least some familiarity with the basics. Ask about ancient Persia, and if you're lucky they may remember them as the bad guys from the movie "300". Ask the average ancient coin collector and they'll do a lot better, of course- maybe even naming Achaemenids, Parthians, and Sasanians- but in far less detail than they could give for Roman or Greek history. I, and many others, collect ancient coins mainly for the history they evoke, and if you don't know that history, the coins just aren't as appealing.
Usually you can see what caused the voids by turning the coin over and seeing that there is a point of high relief backing up the void on the other side. Why some coins were affected by this more than others, I do not know but we are dealing with so little metal to fill both dies that it seems inevitable to happen. Your coin is a perfect example of what I avoid because I find the well struck ones hard enough to read without wondering what is under the void. That is not a highly professional attitude but I am not going to be a pro at Sasanian so I'll leave the challenges to younger eyes with sharper minds. Exactly why I bid on them! I'm every bit as shallow as the relief on my coins. I have a feeling becoming an expert on these will take longer than one lifetime but I hope there are those working on the questions in any event.
I was fascinated by Sasanians since they were shown to me almost fifty years ago, and still am. In those days there was an excellent book, Sasanian Numismatics by Robert Göbl, the German specialist, that can help anyone to understand and identify these coins. Recently another book was published with more details that help identify and better pictures (but only the silver): Yngve KARLSSON, Sasanian Silver Coins. Sasanian Numismatic History with Identification Tools and a Catalogue of Sasanian Coins in Private Collections. Göteborg, Mixtum Publishing, 2015. A4. Original illustrated boards. 136 p. With drawings and photos of coins and their details, with maps, tables, text transcriptions and pictures of rock reliefs. Reference for students of Sasanian silver coinage and for coin collectors, in the clearest possible way and following the most recent scientifical standards. If you think the SNS is too extensive and Göbl complicated, Karlsson is the book you need. ISBN 9789198234107. (Sounds like a blurb, but I wrote it). Here's my coin of Kavad I, the prince who was the son of Peroz, a king twice vanquished by the Hephthalite Huns. In another thread, I argued tentatively that this defeat was the end of Persian antiquity and the start of its middle age. Then this coin would be my first medieval coin. Sasanids. AR drachm Kavad I (first reign, 488-496 AD). Mint Karzi (province Fars). No date. 28 mm, 4.02 gr. Black patina. Göbl I/1, 183. SNS 32. As for Hormizd IV, a sad king who was the son of hugely succesful Xusro I. Incessantly attacked, in the end he succumbed. He always has those hollow eyes. Then came his son, proud Xusro II, who started with the same hollow eyes, but soon minted enormous numbers of splendid (though rigid) drachms. Usually a sign of armies that have to be kept up. All Xusro's wars depleted the reserves of the Persian empire, and in the end it was swept up by Islam. Well, things happen. Sasanids. AR drachm Xusro II (590-627). Mint AT (Azerbayjan), year 22 = 611. 33 mm, 4.15 gr.
Nice coins, Doug i really like the Sasanian/ Kushano-Sasanian coinage. I have 5 AV coins, yet to get AR coins. John
I have been away from this forum for a while, but I just have to comment on this thread as my book "Sasanian Silver Coins" got such a nice presentation by "Pellinor". At last the book is available by some international channels as: Spink https://spinkbooks.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=60&product_id=607 and Charles Davis https://www.vcoins.com/en/stores/ch...on_sasanian_silver_coins/1048995/Default.aspx The first shipment of books has landed in London and more is on its way next week. I will comment on some details in the posts above... /Yngve Karlsson, alias sobris
Answering Dougsmit: The mint Ray in Media has three signatures that are known to me: LD, LDY and LY. Regarding the problem with letters "L" and "R". In older literature the signatures are often written RD, RDY and RY. It is just a matter of which is the best transliteration. The mint of the Ohrmazd coin is not NAH, as there is no such mint signature. This is WYH for Weh-Kawad in Asuristan. Nihawand in Media would have been NY.
Thank you very much. The NAH was a dealer ID. Tom Mallon's site seems to match the WYH ID but includes the note 'Mochiri's NEH; Mitchiner's NIH (Nehavend)' which suggests the dealer was using an older book. I am a little gun shy on buying another Sasanian book after making the expensive mistake ordering Curtis, Askari and Pendleton last year. I hope a US dealer at shows will have yours in stock someday.
If we look at the signatures "WYH" and Mitchiner's reading "NIH". The letters "Y" and "I" are again just different transliterations and nothing to worry about. "W" compared to "N" on the other hand is a misreading of Pahlavi letters as they look very similar. Here is Mitchiner clearly wrong and there is no connection to Nihavand...
