Cool Cng Auction Coins And Their Backstory

There are two exceptional coins, each a Vonones I tetradrachm, in CNG's current e-auction that I think are worthy of a few words. The coins are linked here:

http://cNGCoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=314660
http://cNGCoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=314661

The backstory involves Musa, a scheming and incestuous Roman concubine who was given by Augustus to the Parthian King Phraates IV during a period in which the empires weren't warring. She and her (and Phraates') son Phraataces poisoned Phraates, then married each other and took over the Parthian throne as co-rulers from 2 BC until being overthrown by the Parthian nobility in 4 AD. During their joint reign mother/son/husband/wife issued coins that show both of their images. While their drachms are rare (mine is below), their surviving, unaltered tetradrachms are much, much rarer.



What does any of this have to do with the Vonones I tets in the CNG auction? Well, I'm getting there.

Prior to claiming the Parthian throne, Vonones, who was a brother of Phraataces, had been captive in Rome as part of a treaty the Romans made with their father Phraates IV. Around 6 AD Augustus sent Vonones to Parthia to be king. Things did not go well: "...the refined, or effeminate, habits that he had acquired in Rome soon disgusted his subjects (and) he showed a marked distaste for such typically Parthian occupations as hunting and riding." (Wroth) He ended up battling against another member of the Arsacid clan, Artabanus II, for the rulership. Eventually Artabanus won out and had Vonones murdered.

But while he was claimant to the throne, Vonones issued coins that had his name spelled out in Greek (it was very atypical for Parthian rulers to do this), along with the legend translating as "conqueror of Artabanus" - commemorating a temporary victory over his rival.

Many of Vonones' tetradrachms are overstruck on the tets that his brother Phraataces struck with his mother/wife Musa. While this may have been done for expediency given how quickly Vonones became immersed in the political power struggle with Artabanus, it seems to me that overstriking coins of his father's murderers may have brought some sense of satisfaction.

My own Vonones I tet, like so many of these, shows evidence of overstriking BUT without any clear reading of the known Phraataces/Musa undertype:



And this is what makes the CNG coins so special. Rarely (very rarely!) is the Phraataces/Musa undertype clearly visible on Vonones I tets. Yet it is remarkably easy to see in the coins now up for auction. I show the undertype first, below...Phraataces/Musa tets such as this are extremely rare and valuable. Below that I've rotated the first auction coin to make the comparison to the undertype clearer. On the second coin Phraataces' portrait is clear, but not so Musa's.

Phraataces/Musa tetrdrachm, Sellwood 58.5


Vonones I tets currently up for auction at CNG: