Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Pellinore, post: 3050757, member: 74834&quot;]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, <i>Sasanian Numismatics</i> 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): </p><p><br /></p><p>Yngve KARLSSON, <i>Sasanian Silver Coins. Sasanian Numismatic History with Identification Tools and a Catalogue of Sasanian Coins in Private Collections. </i>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. </p><p>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. <i>(Sounds like a blurb, but I wrote it).</i></p><p><br /></p><p>Here&#039;s my coin of Kavad I, the prince who was the son of Peroz, a king twice vanquished by the Hephthalite Huns. <a href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/latest-boundaries-of-antiquity-and-earliest-of-middle-ages.314507/" class="internalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/latest-boundaries-of-antiquity-and-earliest-of-middle-ages.314507/">In another thread</a>, 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. </p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]763418[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>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. </p><p><br /></p><p>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. </p><p>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&#039;s wars depleted the reserves of the Persian empire, and in the end it was swept up by Islam. Well, things happen. </p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]763424[/ATTACH] </p><p>Sasanids. AR drachm Xusro II (590-627). Mint AT (Azerbayjan), year 22 = 611. 33 mm, 4.15 gr.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in