Here's the next installment of my recent auction wins: Parthian Kingdom, Hekatompylos mint (?). Arsakes II (211-185 BC). AE dichalkoi (3.00 g, 18 mm). Obverse: Beardless bust of king left, wearing bashlyk. Reverse: Goddess (Nike?) standing facing left, holding wreath in right hand, single-line Greek legend "Arsakou" (Of Arsakes) but written retrograde. Sellwood 7.2v. (legend not retrograde in Sellwood), Shore 21. This coin: Pars Coins Auction 1 (April 8, 2019), lot 169. Arsaskes II* (reigned 211-185 BC) was the son and successor of Arsakes I, the founder of the Parthian kingdom. In 209 BC, the Seleukid monarch Antiochos III marched east to reclaim the lands he had lost to the upstart Parthians. Arsakes II was obliged to cede territory in Hyrkaneia (along the eastern shore of the Caspain) and gave up the right to strike coinage in his own name, but was accepted as an ally of Antiochos. There may also have been a marriage alliance between a son of Antiochos and a daughter of Arsakes to help cement the deal. Arsakes may have taken advantage of Antiochos' defeat by the Romans in 190-189 BC at the Battle of Magnesia to test the limits of the treaty, including striking a second issue of coinage featuring his name (a smaller, initial issue had been struck in 211-209 BC, before the treaty with Antiochos). Arsakes II died in 185 BC and was succeeded by Phriapatios, who appears to have not been his son; whether Arsakes had no sons, or his sons had died previously or otherwise proved unsuitable, is unclear. Attribution of the earliest Parthian coins is rather speculative, as all have the same basic portrait type of the king in a bashlyk (a felt cap with earflaps, characteristic of steppe nomads) and bear the name of Arsakes. This type (Sellwood 7) was assigned by Sellwood and Shore to the early part of Mithradates I's rule (171-138 BC), but Assar believes it was struck by Arsakes II c. 189-185 BC. Interestingly, the legend is written retrograde (mirror-reversed) on this specimen; this happens fairly frequently on the earliest Parthian issues, though I haven't been able to find a reason for this. All early Parthian bronzes of the bashlyk type are quite scarce, so for $55 this coin was a good deal, even with the weak reverse of the specimen. Please post your Parthian bronzes, or coins with retrograde inscriptions, or whatever else you can justify as related to the OP coin. *[Obligatory note on Parthian king IDs: Dr. Assar has argued that Arsakes II had the personal name of Artabanos, which would make him Artabanos I (and would change the numbering of several later kings named Artabanos). However, since all Parthian kings continued to use Arsakes as a title-name, I feel justified in continuing to call him Arsakes II, and even Dr Assar in his essay on the Sunshine Collection uses both names.]
Here's a coin much like it, but I understand it was issued by Phriapatius: 18 mm, 2.1 gr. 12h. Sellwood 8.2 (Mithradates I); Sunrise 249; Shore 22. The lettering is also retrograde.
@Parthicus - I enjoyed your write-up of this early Parthian AE. I will share this Parthian bronze tetrachalkoi from about 150 years later: Parthian, Orodes II, c. 57-38 BC AE tetrachalkoi, Mithradatkart Obv: bust of Orodes II Rev: Nike advancing right, holding wreath Size: 16mm, 3.62g Ref: Sellwood 45.37
Here is mine Phriapatius (or Mithradates I depending on the source) Sellwood 8.2; Sunrise 249. Ex FSR. Really like this coin, and the green patina....though it is difficult to photograph.
Nice coin and great write up! I only have 1 bronze Parthian coin..But its quite rare... Vardanes I (40-47 AD) AE Chalkous 11mm/1.8gr.. Obverse- Bust left with short beard, wearing diadem and spiral torque; hair in three distinct waves with earring visible; diadem pendants shown as three lines; circular border of pellets. Reverse- Monogram ΜΤΘ; legend as dashes Mint- Mithradatkart-Near modern Askabad in Turkmenistan. Ref- Sellwood 64 type variant (ΜΤΘ monogram) This is quite a rare type
