A couple of Persian bronze "snacks": Parthian and Sasanian

[Parthicus]

Coin 1: Parthian Kingdom.  AE chalkos (13 mm).  Mithradates III (c.87- 80 BCE). Obverse: Bearded bust left, wearing diadem and tiara with star.  Reverse: Greek inscription "Basileos megalou Arsakou autokratoros philopatoros epiphanous philellenos" (Of the Great King Arsakes, by his own authority, loving his father, illustrious, loving the Greeks), bow case.  Sellwood 31.15.  This coin: Stephen Album Auction 50, lot 4003 (part of group lot) (September 19-22, 2024).

Coin 2: Sasanian Kingdom.  AE pashiz (15 mm).  Shapur I (c.240- 271 CE).  Obverse: Bearded bust right, wearing crown.  Reverse: Fire-altar with two attendants. Gobl 27. This coin: Stephen Album Auction 50, lot 4003 (part of group lot) (September 19-22, 2024).

 

Coin 1: The period from the death of Mithradates II to the accession of Orodes II (c.91- 57 BC) is sometimes called the Parthian Dark Ages. During this period, there seems to have been an extended struggle for the throne, with multiple claimants issuing coinage and few surviving written records to clarify the political situation. Mithradates III (c.87-80 BCE) seems to have been the son of Gotarzes I (c.91-87 BCE) and brother of Orodes I (c.80- 75 BCE), who accused him of excessive cruelty and deposed him. Mithradates was probably the Parthian king who captured the Seleukid claimant Demetrios III in 87 BCE.  Mithradates also lost some of his northwestern territory to Tigranes I of Armenia.  And that's about all we know of this king.  I like the well-preserved reverse on this coin (better than usual for Parthian bronzes), and the design is significant as the Parthian warriors were renowned for their skill as mounted archers.

Coin 2: Shapur I (c.240- 271 CE) was the second Sasanian king and, reasonably enough, the son of the first Sasanian king, Ardashir I.  There is a tradition that Shapur's mother was a daughter of the last Parthian king, Artabanos VI, though that may be a later embellishment to create a link between the Sasanians and the Parthians who they conquered.  In 244 Shapur defeated the Roman emperor Gordian III, though whether Shapur killed Gordian or whether Gordian was deposed and killed by fellow Romans is disputed.  In any case, the new Roman emperor Philip I "The Arab" was forced to pay a large indemnity and give up territory in order to withdraw safely.  In 260, Shapur managed to capture the Roman emperor Valerian I alive, and reportedly used his miserable prisoner as a footstool. (The story that, after Valerian's death, Shapur had his skin tanned and stuffed to display to the Roman ambassador like a scarecrow, is almost certainly false and typical Roman propaganda to paint non-Roman enemies as savages.) Shapur also won territories in the east from the declining Kushan kingdom, and founded a number of cities.  The reverse shows a Zoroastrian fire-altar, but while his father's coins showed just the altar Shapur's coinage adds the two attendants, a pattern that would be continued for the rest of the Sasanian period (and beyond, in the many imitative coinages for a few more centuries).  

These two coins were part of a group lot (along with another Parthian bronze, of Mithradates II) that I won at $70.  Neither the Parthians nor the Sasanians issued large quantities of bronze coins, and many surviving specimens are pretty lousy.  Both these coins are rather nice for the price I paid, and I was happy to acquire them.  Feel free to post any related coins.

[JAZ Numismatics]

The detail on that 13mm chalkos is astonishing. You have the same problem collecting Parthians that I do collecting Nabataens - big holes in the historical record that have to be filled in by educated conjecture. The pashiz is also beautiful and rare. You would have gotten a great deal if they were $70 apiece!

[Nerosmyfavorite68]

They're both really in really nice shape for the types, especially the chalkous.  For whatever reason, Iranian AE's usually are without patina and an alarming amount have BD, or what looks like BD.  I don't really collect small AE's, yet I would have snapped up that chalkous.