Sassanian..."Pile em on"

[Pellinore]

I'd like to revive this interesting thread. I've been collecting Sasanians since I was 16. I had plans to study Middle-Persian language and history, but in the end decided otherwise. Still, it never really went away and here I am, half a century later, with a coin collection centering in Iran and Central Asia. 

If you say 'Sasanian' (or 'Sassanian') you also have to take the centuries of imitations into account, that went on and on for 800 years. Here is an early iconic coin that I found one of in Belgium a few years ago. Dating from the age of Diocletian. I'm very happy with it!

 

5398. Bahram/ Varhran II (274-293), AR drachm. Bust of king to the right with ball-topped winged crown, large pearl-netted hairball in the neck; bust of the queen to the right with boar-head topped cap; small bust of a prince to the left, with eagle-head topped cap. Rev. Fire altar, to the left a symbol (pincers with a horizontal ribbon). The attendants both male, with beard and korymbos, both looking out. 28 mm, 3.98 gr. Göbl type VII/2? Apparently bought in New York (not by me), 5.12.1999, USD 200, from Siamak Ahghari, later one of the authors of the Sunrise collection book. It was one of my most expensive coins.

And then there are the many early imitations that were issued in the years after the conquest of the Sasanian Empire by the Arabs in the middle 7th century. The copper coins were local issues, like this very unround one. 

 

AE pashiz, c.660-700. No place, no date. Obv. Sasanian portrait. Rev. Fire altar with bystanders. 14 mm. 0.79 gr. Album-49K, Gyselen-124. (Gyselen is the detailed catalog.)

 

 

[velarfricative]

4 minutes ago, Pellinore said:

And then there are the many early imitations that were issued in the years after the conquest of the Sasanian Empire by the Arabs in the middle 7th century. The copper coins were local issues, like this very unround one. 

 

AE pashiz, c.660-700. No place, no date. Obv. Sasanian portrait. Rev. Fire altar with bystanders. 14 mm. 0.79 gr. Album-49K, Gyselen-124. (Gyselen is the detailed catalog.)

I was unaware of any Arab-Sasanian coins like this one, how was this determined to be an Arab issue and not just normal Sasanian?

[Sulla80]

I do like a Sasanian drachm: Khusro II

[JeandAcre]

@Pellinore, with or without having had an honest chance to learn the language (I feel your pain), your collecting arc is truly impressive --verging on epic! 

As sketchy as my acquaintance with the history is, this is a series where I give myself permission to focus more on the esthetics.  Your stunning example of Vahran II is early enough to demonstrate the influence of Parthian and Classical coins, with the pronounced relief.  A Shapur I (the contemporary of Valerian --Sorry, Valerian) is still on my bucket list.

Apart from the amazing range of imitations, @Sulla80's example shows how, even in the official issues, the style morphed over the 4th -earlier 7th centuries CE.  Right, the relief got toned down, evoking late Roman precedent.  ...To some extent; but the style is no less distinctive than in the 3rd century.  It's as if the lower relief is compensated by the wealth of detail, especially in the portraits.  Here are a couple of mine.  The first has the fine style of Khusro II; the other two are fun for being relatively crude.  --But effectively as exceptions that prove the rule; my impression is that the engraving maintained a solid level of quality control to the end of the series.  I have some other solid ones from the 5th century on, but they're likely to all be reposts, and other people have comparable ones.  ...These use the orthography of Gobl.  They're transliterations anyway; I'm easy.

Hormizd II (303-309 CE), already demonstrating the lower relief, but with lots of detail.

Hormizd IV, 579-590 CE.

Vahran VI, 590-591 CE.

Edited April 13, 2023 by JeandAcre

[Pellinore]

11 hours ago, velarfricative said:

I was unaware of any Arab-Sasanian coins like this one, how was this determined to be an Arab issue and not just normal Sasanian?

Well, it is probably a local issue in Sasanian style under Arabic overlordship. I wouldn’t call it Arabic or even Islamic. In the first years under Islamic dominance, people were in general permitted to confess to their own religion - zoroastrism in this case. 
That this is not a real Xusro II coin I take on higher authority: it was identified and sold by Steve Album Auctions. You may find it on Zeno as  
269068 .

[Parthicus]

10 hours ago, Pellinore said:

Well, it is probably a local issue in Sasanian style under Arabic overlordship. I wouldn’t call it Arabic or even Islamic. In the first years under Islamic dominance, people were in general permitted to confess to their own religion - zoroastrism in this case. 
That this is not a real Xusro II coin I take on higher authority: it was identified and sold by Steve Album Auctions. You may find it on Zeno as  
269068 .

It's definitely Arab-Sasanian based on style.  That Pahlavi text on the obverse is definitely wrong for Khusro, but neither Album nor Gyselen seem willing to take a stab at deciphering it.  The best I can come up with is that the first two letters behind the head seem to be PW, and the second and third letters in front of the face may be WL.  What that is supposed to mean, I leave to far more qualified people.