Seems like I haven't posted anything here relevant at all in the last couple months. Over the summer my wife had a major surgery, we sold a house and bought a house, moved (obviously), and in general had a horrendously busy last few months. I'm actually ready for my daughter to get back to school and to settle back into a nice calm relaxing routine. Although I haven't been posting much, I've still been on the hunt and have nearly doubled my ancient coin holdings in a short period - pushing about 30 coins now. Here is one of my more recent pick-ups: Kingdom of Persis. Autophradates (Vadfradad) II, c.Early-Mid 2nd Century BC. AR Obol (0.74 gm). Head in satrapal headdress with eagle / King at altar with Ahura-Mazda and eagle on column. Alram.549. K&M.3/4. Sunrise.577. XF. Scarce. Ex. Pegasi Numismatics I am looking forward to learning a bit more about the origins of this coin, but again not much time to do so yet. I did find this thread by @TIF , so I hope she won't mind my linking it here as she has already provided there a couple links with what little info there is: Two beautiful Kings of Persis coins If you have a coin of any PERSIS King or a tie in please post em. -d
I hope the calm returns soon for you and your family! I like these, and have a few. The first is similar to yours except it's a drachm. I'm uncertain about the attribution. Some say it is Autophradates II, others say an unknown king (note the scar on the cheek!). The reverse depicts a fire temple, with Ahura-Mazda above; to left, king standing right; to right, standard surmounted by eagle. Here is an obol of Darev/Darius II, 1st c. BC. Rev: King holding sceptre, sacrificing at altar: A century later, here's an obol of Kapat/Napad (mid to late 1st c. AD): And finally, a hemidrachm from "Unknown King II", late 1st c. AD: I still need one of the latest issues before they emerge to conquer there erstwhile Parthian overlords and emerge as the Sassanid empire. These coins make a nice link between the Achaemenid Persians and the Sassanids.
Nice one @dadams ! Sounds like a busy time indeed! I look forward to seeing more of your newest additions.
Nice!! There must've been a large hoard of these found a few years back because suddenly a bunch of them hit the market. I don't remember seeing such a nice obol before though. I have a drachm and a hemidrachm. The drachm looks like it was struck from a rusty die, plus it was exuberantly stripped. I left the drachm open to the corrosive stew that is my air so that it would retone. It did quite rapidly but I never reshot it. KINGDOM OF PERSIS, Vadfradad (Autophradates) II Mid-2nd century BC AR hemidrachm, 2.06 gm Obv: head of Vadfradad right with short beard, wearing diadem and kyrbasia adorned with eagle Rev: fire temple, Ahura-Mazda above; to left, Vadfradad standing right; to right, vexillum standard surmounted by eagle. Ref: Sunrise 578. KINGDOM OF PERSIS, Vadfradad (Autophradates) II Mid-2nd century BC AR drachm, 4.13 gm Obv: head of Vadfradad right with short beard, wearing diadem and kyrbasia adorned with eagle Rev: fire temple, Ahura-Mazda above; to left, Vadfradad standing right; to right, vexillum standard surmounted by eagle Ref: K&M 3/2. Alram 547. Sunrise 576. Speaking of fire altars, which are central Zoroastrianism, Freddie Mercury (late of Queen) was a Zoroastrian. Earlier this month I took my 84 year old fangirl mom on a road trip to see them in Dallas and Houston. (To be accurate, she's an Adam Lambert fangirl and he is Queen's singer these days; she has come to like Queen but would never have bothered to see them in concert if not for Adam). Freddie makes a couple of virtual appearances in their show, here in Bohemian Rhapsody: The staging of their latest show was spectacular. Queen + Adam Lambert is touring Europe starting in November and Oceania in early 2018. Great show, highly recommend Tickets are hideously expensive but upon seeing the elaborate staging, it's easy to see why they cost so much.
Cool! I have various Persis coins that I never got around to photographing, but here's one I did: a bronze of the last king of Persis, Ardashir V, who went on to become Ardashir I, first Sasanian king: Not a beautiful coin (facing bust portraits only look good on higher-grade specimens) but historically important, and note the all-important fire altar on the reverse.
I have nothing so early as yours. Here is my earliest king of Persis: Ardaxšir (Artaxerxes) II. Circa 60 BC. AR Hemidrachm (14mm - 1.95 g). Obv: Diademed bust left wearing mural crown; monogram behind. Rev: rthštr / MLK' / BRH d'ryw / MLK' in Aramaic script (King Ardashir, son of King Darius); Ardaxšir standing right, holding scepter and sacrificing before altar to right. I have heard the claim that the mural crown worn by the rulers of Persis was the basis for the style of the traditional crowns of the kings of Europe. Not sure if it is true but the crown does look like something from early Europe.
Really nice Persis Obol @dadams ! I do not focus here, but I do have ONE Persis Obol. I need to re-shoot the pic. However, I have been way too busy and have perhaps 150 coins that I need to re-shoot now... all attributed, all in saflips, but no time to re-shoot them all. I got this one from Frank: Persis Darius I 2nd C BCE Obol King's hd r in satrapal head-dress topped by Eagle - Fire ALtar S6200 SCARCE
What references do you recommend for ID of Persis coins? Do you find discrepancies between the options between various sources? My ID's come from comparison to online sales and what was listed by the seller. I have no good reference on these. Prince Y 1.09g Pakor obol 0.42g Ardashir IV hemidrachm 1.36g
Thanks for all the posts! I am really pleased with this tiny coin and am amazed every time I look at it how the ancient celators could create these miniscule masterpieces. Thanks @TIF for posting your hemidrachm & drachm - that hemi seems a particularly fine specimen! If you're road tripping to Dallas & Houston to see concerts I'm guessing you're a TX girl? I live in Houston. @Parthicus -- I have a Parthian facing bust portrait coin on my want list thanks to you! Thanks for showing a bronze. @Severus Alexander you've got a nice little collection going - I like your obol of Kapat/Napad with portraits on obv. and rev. @Ed Snible I love the portrait on that example and the mural crown I had to look up
Doug, I hope you are not relying on me to answer your question, but rather this was directed at the group. I relied on the sellers attribution and I feel confident in their ability, however the references cited are: Alram - M. Alram, Nomina Propria Iranica in Nummis: Materialgrundlagen zu den iranischen Personennamen auf antiken Münzen, Iranisches Personennamenbuch 4,Vienna, 1986. who is Michael Alram K&M - Klose-Müseler (K & M) Klose, D.O. and W. Müseler. Die Münzen aus Persepolis von Alexander dem Großen zu den Sasaniden. (Munich, 2008). Sunrise - NUMISMATIC ART OF PERSIA. THE SUNRISE COLLECTION. PART I: ANCIENT--650 BC TO AD 650 by Bradley R. Nelson (2011) Numismatic Art of Persia. The Sunrise Collection Info about CNG’s Triton XVIII Sale Auction Cat of interest -- See also: THE WORLD OF. ACHAEMENID PERSIA. History, Art and Society in Iran and the Ancient Near East (opens as a PDF) and another link worth perusing: Numismatic References Index edited to add - I like your coins!
