Game Of The Contemporary Civilizations Revised

A billion drachm minted in Elymais around 100 AD. During this period Elymais was a vassal of Parthia, and the general consensus (although it isn't undisputed) is that the king shown on the obverse is Orodes II (probably II, possibly I), king of Parthia. It is possible that it is a local ruler, and that they just copped the style of the Parthian coins, however. The reverse, though rough, is a bust of Artemis surround by lines that may have been engravers trying to copy an alphabet they didn't know how to read.

It was a very chaotic time in this region of the world as Parthia tried to consolidate power, ultimately failing (although that was 100 years after this coin was minted, and they deserve more credit than they get for the size and longevity of their empire) and bringing about the Sasanian Empire.

I thought you might have a Trajan or Hadrian, maybe even a provincial of them.

Good to see an Elymaean. Didn't know if they'd be excluded from the fun since their dating is not very precise. Here's another from around the early 2nd century, likely contemporaneous to the Vima Kadphises.

Orodes II
AE tetradrachm
Van't Haaff 13.3.1-3B

That's a fantastic Tet. Elymaean coins interest me quite a bit due to how little we know about the kingdom, and their ancient origins.

Still at the year 100?
Unfortunately all my Trajans are dated and later.
But I noticed a Quadrans in the mix.
Question to 'Augustus_Maximus' (and others): how many Quadrans from Imperial Times do you have?

I have 7 Quadrans. 4 of Claudius , 2 of Augustus , and 1 of Domitian .

I've got two quadrans (quadri?) of Claudius, and probably one more that I need to clean up. At the risk of posting a non-time period coin here's by far my nicest looking oneL:



The green seems to be stable; it's been in my collection for over a year and hasn't changed, and it doesn't come off.

Where is 'Ancientnoob'?