Early Patch of the Coinage from the Reign of Ardashir I as King of Persis

Early Patch of the Coinage from the Reign of Ardashir I as King of Persis

Ardashir I's coin during this kingship of Persis, most likely before his victorious war against the last Partian Great King Artabanus IV

The first minting phase of Ardashir began with his cononation as king of Fars after his bother Shapur, the originally designated king of Fars, died in a collapsing building (Bosworth 1999, 8). According to the interpretation from Altheim-Stiehl 1978, an unnamed era of the Sassanian reign, documented in an inscription for Shapur I in Bishapur (Relief 5), started in the year 205/206 CE. This phase ended with Ardashir’s victory over Artabanus IV at the battle of Hormizdagan, which, according to Tabari, is supposed to have taken place in 223/224 CE. Differing from later Sassanian issues, the frontal protrait of a king can be traced back to Vonones II in ca. 51 CE, known as Sellwood type 67.1. The cap-like crown from the obverse and reverse is of Arsacid origin, but also has long been part of the regalia of the Shah of Fars (SNS II.A.1.1.a). The legend on both sides also follows the Arsacid precedence, naming Papag the king as BGY 'RD'ŠIR MLKA. The honorary title BGY means ‘god’ or ‘majesty’. The legend on the reverse explicitly describes Ardashir as ‘son of the god Papag, the King’. This type of coin is thought to have been minted in Stakhr, i.e. Mint A, which has served as the main mint for the king of Fars for centuries. The principal denomination remains as drachms with 2 auxiliary denominations found so far, 1/2 drachms and 1/6 dramchs. Coinage produced during this phase has a reduced fineness (of silver, ca. 61% to the Arsacid coins).

Reference

Bosworth, C. E. (trans.). 1999.
The History of al-Ṭabarī, Volume V: The Sāsānids, the Byzantines, the Lakhmids, and Yemen. Albany, New York.
Gariboldi, A. 2017.
Sylloge Nummorum Sasanidarum Tajikistan - Sasanian Coins and Their Imitations from Sogdiana and Toachristan. Volume I. Wien: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaft, I.1(21ff); II.A.1.1.a(93f), 1.2.a(103ff); II.A.3(153ff); III.A(292f).
Altheim-Stiehl, R. 1978.
„Das früheste Datum der sassanidischen Geschichte, vermittelt durch die Zeitangabe der mittelperisch-partischen Inschrift aus Bišapur.“ Archäologische Mitteilungen aus Iran 11: 113–116.

WANG Fan

205/6–223/4 CE

CoinArchives, ancient coin auction, from Leu Numismatik AG - Web Auction 16, 22 May 2021, Lot 1675.

Coins accessed under Coinarchives (15.10.2021).
Coins accessed under leunumismatik.com (15.10.2021).

English

Early patch of coinage of Ardashir I

Ardashir I

Mint A (Stakhr), Persis(Province / Vassal State)

205/6–223/4 CE

AR, hemidrachm

1.70g / 18 mm / 2 h

Bearded; Ardashir, head, frontal view, wearing diadem and Parthian-style tiara; with pellet-in-crescent
Legend: BGY 'RTHŠTR MLKA (Pahlavi, translation: The divine Ardaxir, king)

Bearded head of Pabak to left
Legend: BRE BGY P'PKY MLKA (Pahlawi, translation: son of the divinity Papak, king)

Sylloge Nummorum Sasanidarum, Vol. I Ardashir I Type I(1)/1(1).

Coins accessed under Coinarchives (15.10.2021).
Coins accessed under leunumismatik.com (15.10.2021).