Shapur II overstruck on Constantine I bronze

[Heliodromus]

I've shown this top coin before, but was just doing some research about it, so know a tiny little bit more.

The coin is an overstrike of a Shapur II fire altar (shrine) type on a coin of Constantine I which had been issued from Antioch c.325 AD, RIC VII Antioch 57, like the one below it. It measures 18x17mm.

What's interesting about this coin, other than it existing at all, is that the Shapur II type seems extremely rare if not non-existant as a regular bronze type, which helps make it clear that this is an overstrike by/of Shapur II over Constantine and not vice versa.

The only other similar coins I've seen are another overstrike, over a half-nummus of Licinus (issued somewhere in the east c.321-324 AD), sold in Lanz 138.470, and one of similar size (18mm) struck in lead sold by NBJ on VCoins.

While bronze coins of Shapur II generally seem quite scarce, these small lead ones (Pashiz?) seem more common, although this is the only one I've seen with this symbol (tamga) on the obverse.

I'd be interested if anyone familiar with Shapur II's coinage could explain what role these lead coins played. Were they part of regular coinage or not, and how did their denomination compare to his bronze/copper coins? When were they issued? It seems as if these two overstrikes may have been made with dies made for these lead types. The date range could be anywhere from the c.324 AD date of the undertypes to the end of Shapur II's reign c.379 AD, although it seems logical they may have been made shortly after these coins were circulating closer to 324 AD. Without a name on the obverse, I'm not sure if it's possible to entirely rule out a later descendent of Shapur II.

One interesting aspect to these Sasanian coins is the use of these symbols, called tamga, such as the one in front of the King's bust on the coins above. These symbols have a long history in that part of the world and were used as family/clan identifiers. The tamga on my coin seems to have been originated by Shapur I, and used by his descendents at least down to Shapur II, both on coins as well as rock carvings and other contexts.

We can see what may be one of the first uses of this tamga on the rock relief at Firuzabad depicting the battle of Hormozdgan in 224 AD, when Shapur I's father Ardasir I defeated the Parthian king Artabanus IV (who had previously battled Caracalla) to establish the Sasanian dynasty's rule over Persia.

In the center of the relief we can see Shapur I, with his horse covered in this identifying tamga, impaling one of Artanabus' men with his lance. On Ardisir's horse we see a different type of symbol, a symbolic diadem (not a tamga), representing kingship.

While associated with him, Shapur I himself only seems to have used his tamga rarely on coins.

None of coins below are mine.

Shapur I (diadem on reverse by flame)

Shapur I (tamga on altar)

Following Shapur I, we see both the the kingship diadem and dynastic tamga used on coins of his son (& Galerius' enemy) Narseh, down through Hormizd II (Shapur II's father) to Shapur II himself.

Narseh

Hormizd II (diadem on globe on crown, tamga beside flames on reverse)

Shapur II

Shapur II (presumably) - my coin

Here's a map showing the huge extent of the Sassanid empire, neighboring onto Rome's eastern provinces.

Please post your Sasanian coins, or others (Kushan, etc) showing family tamga !

 

Edited May 25 by Heliodromus

[Kali]

Sasanian Kingdom, Shapur I (241-272 A.D.)

Sasanian Empire
AR drachm
O: Bust of Shapur I right, wearing diadem and decorated tiara terminating in eagle head.
R: Fire altar flanked by two attendants wearing diadems and mural crowns.
25mm
4.33g
Göbl type I/1

Shapur II (309 - 379 A.D.)
Sasanian Empire
AR Drachm
O: Crowned bust right.
R: Fire altar with bust of Ahura-Mazda in flames, and with two attendants.
26.6mm
3.45g
Göbl type 1a/6a

Shapur III (383 - 388 A.D.)

AR drachm
O: Bust right, wearing flat-topped crown with korymbos.
R:Fire altar with ribbons and bust right in flames; flanked by two attendants, each wearing flat-topped crown with korymbos, reverse on the right side, word "Attash-e" left side "Shpr" meaning "the sacred fire of Shapur", monograms on altar shaft.
4.2g
25mm
SNS type Ic/1b (pl. 25, A3); Göbl type I/1; Sunrise 875.

 

[JeandAcre]

Terrific examples and stunning background, @Heliodromus.  Wow.

...This amounts to wishful thinking, but would these overstrikes of Shapur II lend any credence to the contention that some of Shapur I's dirhams are indeed overstrikes of antoniniani?  It's been put forward that even his dirhams that are nearer antoninini were likelier to have been struck on Sasanian flans, purposely nearer Roman composition and module, for circulation in newly conquered parts of the (check, check) empire.

[Heliodromus]

59 minutes ago, JeandAcre said:

This amounts to wishful thinking, but would these overstrikes of Shapur II lend any credence to the contention that some of Shapur I's dirhams are indeed overstrikes of antoniniani?

Unfortunately I don't know. Not my area of expertise, and it seems that a lot less is known about the Sasanian coinage that that of some other empires.

I was thinking of asking Bob Schaaf, a Sasanian expert, about my coin, but not sure if he's still alive or has any public contact information. I see that his collection was sold to Princeton University, and has been published as SNS Schaaf, as an extention to SNS Paris-Berlin-Vienna. I actually bought a Constantine coin from Bob years ago, which he graciously agreed to sell after I cold-emailed him after seeing it on WildWinds, but I no longer have his e-mail address.

 

Edited May 24 by Heliodromus

[Sulla80]

1 hour ago, Heliodromus said:

I've shown this top coin before, but was just doing some research about it, so know a tiny little bit more.

The coin is an overstrike of a Shapur II fire altar (shrine) type on a coin of Constantine I which had been issued from Antioch c.325 AD, RIC VII Antioch 57, like the one below it. It measures 18x17mm.

What's interesting about this coin, other than it existing at all, is that the Shapur II type seems extremely rare if not non-existant as a regular bronze type, which helps make it clear that this is an overstrike by/of Shapur II over Constantine and not vice versa.

The only other similar coins I've seen are another overstrike, over a half-nummus of Licinus (issued somewhere in the east c.321-324 AD), sold in Lanz 138.470, and one of similar size (18mm) struck in lead sold by NBJ on VCoins.

While bronze coins of Shapur II generally seem quite scarce, these small lead ones (Pashiz?) seem more common, although this is the only one I've seen with this symbol (tamga) on the obverse.

I'd be interested if anyone familiar with Shapur II's coinage could explain what role these lead coins played. Were they part of regular coinage or not, and how did their denomination compare to his bronze/copper coins? When were they issued? It seems as if these two overstrikes may have been made with dies made for these lead types. The date range could be anywhere from the c.324 AD date of the undertypes to the end of Shapur II's reign c.379 AD, although it seems logical they may have been made shortly after these coins were circulating closer to 324 AD. Without a name on the obverse, I'm not sure if it's possible to entirely rule out a later descendent of Shapur II.

One interesting aspect to these Sasanian coins is the use of these symbols, called tamga, such as the one in front of the King's bust on the coins above. These symbols have a long history in that part of the world and were used as family/clan identifiers. The tamga on my coin seems to have been originated by Shapur I, and used by his descendents at least down to Shapur II, both on coins as well as rock carvings and other contexts.

We can see what may be one of the first uses of this tamga on the rock relief at Firuzabad depicting the battle of Hormozdgan in 224 AD, when Shapur I's father Ardasir I defeated the Parthian king Artabanus IV (who had previously battled Caracalla) to establish the Sasanian dynasty's rule over Persia.

In the center of the relief we can see Shapur I, with his horse covered in this identifying tamga, impaling one of Artanabus' men with his lance.

While associated with him, Shapur I himself only seems to have used this particular tamga rarely on his coins, and also used another perhaps earlier one (looking a bit like a stick figure of a man) as on the gold coin below.

None of coins below are mine.

Shapur I (older? tamga)

Shapur I (new tamga)

Following Shapur I, we see both these tamga's used on coins of his son (& Galerius' enemy) Narseh, down through Hormizd II (Shapur II's father) to Shapur II himself.

Narseh

Hormizd II (one tamga on helmet, one beside flames on reverse)

Shapur II

Shapur II (presumably) - my coin

Here's a map showing the huge extent of the Sassanid empire, neighboring onto Rome's eastern provinces.

Please post your Sasanian coins, or others (Kushan, etc) showing family tamga !

 

I must have missed your earlier post - that's an amazing coin!  Thanks for the post.

[Alegandron]

SHAPUR I


SASANIAN KINGS.
Shapur I. AD.
240-272.
Æ Tetradrachm (10.78 gm; 27 mm).
Mint I (“Ctesiphon”), phase 1a, ca. AD 240-244.
Obv: Bust of Shapur I right, wearing diadem and mural crown with korymbos / Rev: Fire altar, flanked by two attendants wearing diadems (type 2) and mural crowns.
SNS type IIa1/1a, style Abi, pl. 20, 5-A8; Göbl type II/1; Paruck 95; Saeedi -; Sunrise 731(this coin).
From The Sunrise Collection
Ex: Pars Coins


 

[Parthicus]

Very interesting examples you've shown @Heliodromus, I don't think I've seen any Sasanian AE overstruck on Roman AE before.  I do have an Umayyad fals overstruck on an uncertain LRB, but of course that's just reuse of a coin that was over 300 years old, while your examples are overstruck on roughly contemporary coins:

Not sure how this affects the claims of certain Shapur I drachms being overstruck on Roman antoniniani.  The main problem with this theory is that I still have not seen even one Shapur I drachm with any trace of a Roman undertype.  One theory I've heard is that Shapur I's troops captured a large stockpile of Roman antoniniani blanks, and used these blanks to strike drachms.  This fits the observed facts (certain Shapur I drachms with weight and fineness similar to contemporary Roman antoniniani), but a finding of clearly overstruck Shapur I drachms would shift the probability the other way.

One of the low-purity drachms of Shapur I:

Sasanian lead coinage remains rather mysterious, at least to me.  Why they were issued, how the lead coins related to other denominations, sequence of issues (most I've seen are undated)... all excellent questions, and (as far as I know) not yet adequately published by any scholars of other experts.

 

 

[Ancient Coin Hunter]

Fascinating post @Heliodromus. One always learns something new on Numisforums.

[Heliodromus]

I just learnt that the second stick-figure-like symbol isn't a tamga, but rather a symbolic diadem, representing kingship - I've updated my post.