Yesterday I posted a thread asking for advise on Greek fractional currency, and after spending a very confusing evening trying to sort out through all the different options based on the advise I was given, all I had to show for it was a list longer than my arm, and a headache. Luckily I remembered that famous and well known phrase: "When in doubt...buy a Parthian!" I mean, who hasn't heard of that? So I flung the list of potential Greek fractional currency candidates across the room, took some Tylenol, and got me a Parthian. It literally is the perfect solution to any dilemma. Don't know what to get your kids for Christmas? Buy a Parthian! Don't know what to eat for lunch? Buy a Parthian! Forgot to take out the trash and now the house stinks and the wife is mad at you? Just buy a Parthian! So here is my solution to my Greek fractional currency dilemma, my very own first Parthian. I should be receiving it in the mail by Friday. Vologases III was a very cool dude, spiky hair and all! Now, I know I said last week that I would not buy any more coins for the remainder of the year, and I said the same thing the week before, and the week before that....but this time I really really mean it. And you know I do because it's in bold, has the word 'really' twice, and its underlined.
Actually no, it is surprisingly "big" compared to the stuff I was looking at before I bought this. It is a drachm, and measures 20.58mm, and weighs 3.68 grams. So basically the size of a denarius with a large flan, and about the same weight as one.
That's what I was thinking - there are Parthian obols with lettering, but I've only seen single lines. The fractionals are too small for double lines.
Here's the thing, the first ancient that got me looking at ancients was a Vologases III drachm coin. I saw one on sale on Ebay while looking for modern coins, which peaked my curiosity about ancients, which got me to buy my first ancient...and the rest is history. So in this moment of indecision...it just seemed like a logical solution to my hunger for more ancients, and it solved my dilemma about Greek fractionals because I spent most of the budget I had allocated for one into this coin. Hence why someone else walked away with that cool lion/boar coin you posted for sale, instead of me.
Parthian coins basically mirrored the size and purity of early Roman denarii. Then, because they became the de-facto coinage on the silk road, they always maintained weight and purity. Even the Sassanids kept the same weight and purity, though they flattened the flans out. Since it was the standard used on the silk road, it was the majority of the income for the empire. Why debase your coinage when you would just turn around and collect most of your tax revenue in the same coinage?
Thank you for that background information on the coin. I will say something though, these coins have something going for them that Roman coins do not have. Wonderful artistic creativity in the portrait of the ruler. They look like very creative caricatures...almost surrealistic.
I don't like Parthians too much. That's why I have so many of them and both Sellwood and Shore books. http://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/parthar.html My favorites came since I posted that page: My prettiest Parthian is a Mithradates II. Some people complain that most Parthian kings did not put their name on the coins but just used the Dynastic name Arsakes. An exception worth seeking is Vonones who not only put King Vonones on the obverse but replaced the reverse archer with a Nike. Such a rebel... Reverse legend BACIΛEYC ONΩNHC NЄIKHCAC APTABNOY King Vonones defeater of Artabanos - he really was a rebel!
Who is going to point out that Vonones was neither a rebel nor a victor? Interesting story waits for those who Google.
Just the Sellwood and Shore books? How about the SNP volume or the CNG sale of the Shore collection? Yeah, I have too many books.
I took you up on that. So his coins are all smoke and mirrors, lol. Well, it's not the first time coinage was used as hyperbolic propaganda.
Shore was CNG 36. I have 1 through 65 (when they stopped sending them free). I believe 81 and up are online so I have a gap. All interested should see http://www.parthia.com/parthia_coins.htm which has a lot of good information but I don't think it has been touched for a while. I sent notice when my site moved to its new address but they never updated their link. You never know how long abandoned sites will be available so it is good to study quickly. A person could make a specialty collection on ancient lies. Top billing might be Valerian coins about his victories in the East (did not go so well).
sounds good to me! i have also coin shopped until i got a splitting headache, that's when i just say screw it and pick up one on my wish list for a reasonable price. this one didn't come to me that way, but it's my only parthian of 2015. Parthian Empire, Vologases III, Drachm, 105-147 AD. O: Bust with diadem to l. R: Archer seated to r. holding bow. Monogram A below, Ecbatana mint, 3.9 g, 20 mm, Sellwood 78.3 i believe your is sellwood 78.5...no seat for archer? nice parthian coin sallent, congrats to you.
I love this thread and I love the way you think, Sallent! Btw, you may occasionally see these Sellwood 78's listed as Pacorus I. This newer attribution is based on the research of Dr. G.R.F Assar. Obviously many dealers and collectors resist the re-attribution and continue to list them as Vologases.
That's right, mine has no seat for the archer. He is practicing yoga Man, yours is something else. I looked for one as nice as yours but the best I could find after looking for a good while was my humble example. If we were using US coins grades, which I'll readily admit are totally inappropriate for ancients, yours would easily be an MS-64 at least, while mine would probably be an AU-50. PS: If I'm honest, I found one that was close to yours in perfection, but it was priced way too high by an overly ambitious dealer. I'm willing to pay a little more for quality when I find it, but I'm not willing to be taken for a ride and pay double or more what it should be priced.
... amazingly, I don't have a Parthian example (*sigh*) Oh, but that's a sweet OP-pickup, Sallent (congrats on adding another winner to your hoard)