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 Replies: 13 / Views: 1,475 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
790 Posts |
Back in the day, I mentored a young Iranian woman through elementary and secondary school. We are still close. She now has a young son, and wants to interest him in his Persian heritage. I was thinking if I could find an attractive Persian coin, preferably one that ties into a time in Persian history that would interest a little boy, it would make a nice family Christmas gift this year.
I'm thinking pre-Islamic, since religion could become a thorny issue (some members of her family are Muslim, she's Christian, and her husband is not especially religious).
Any ideas of what to look for?
Thanks! Edited by twslisa
11/29/2016 8:55 pm
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New Member
Australia
2 Posts |
I saw some one sold them on ebay |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7066 Posts |
Have you considered a coin from Elymais, Persis, or Parthia? All are from territories in what is now Iran (and thus a nice tie to the family's history) and they are all pre-lslamic.
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Moderator
 United States
34427 Posts |
@twslisa, I would absolutely recommend doing whatever @bob says as this is (one of) his area(s) of expertise. IMHO, for a kid, the copper coins of Elymais might be kinda cool: the obv has some dude with a weird haircut and a boat anchor, while the rev has a seeming random collection of tick marks. Depending on her budget, the $20 or $25 (before shipping) seems pretty reasonable. Here are a bunch for sale on vcoins: https://www.vcoins.com/en/Search.as...signed=False"If you climb a good tree, you get a push."
-----Ghanaian proverb
"The danger we all now face is distinguishing between what is authentic and what is performed."
-----King Adz
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6130 Posts |
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Moderator
United States
23731 Posts |
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Moderator
Australia
16849 Posts |
Tricky.
Recently, I put together a display of ancient and Mediaeval Persian coins, to show to some friends who came to a conversational English class I volunteer for. they were certainly impressed with them, and with my ability to rattle off the various dynasties and kingdoms which ruled Persia over the past 2500 years of coinage history.
If religious tension is a concern, then perhaps the Sassanian coins should not be entertained. While they are large and spectacular coins, they feature overtly religious symbolism, notably the Zoroastrian fire-altar on the reverse.
Your safest bet would be the earliest Achaemenid coins, the silver siglos. While not particularly impressive-looking, even to the extent of not looking very coin-like, their design is "safe", depicting just the king in an action-figure-like pose. It also helps that they're "the oldest Persian coins you can get" and date from the height of the ancient Persian Empire's power.
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Pillar of the Community
Norway
1358 Posts |
Iranian coins might be a tad difficult to get hold of in the USA, as Iran is a 'no no'-area due to the sanctions there. At work, we even have rules in place in case a request for support comes in from Iran to avoid them ending up on the plate of an American colleague, as they are apparently legally not allowed to help.
It may be well above budget, but one thing I'm thinking about that you might get hold of is some Pahlavi coins, like a quarter Pahlavi (250 Rials) gold coin. They should go for just over face value ($75 or so) and are quite well available. Plus that you give real gold. The Pahlavi era was the time that Iran was very liberal (ooooh dirty word for Americans!), especially from a religious point of view. There's still lots of footage of women going without head scarf and in trousers on the streets of Tehran on for example YouTube. They got the exact opposite in place after the Islamic revolution of 1979. Otherwise, keep in mind that Iran is the stronghold of Shia Islam, which is in practice much less strict and much more friendly and much less militant than Sunny Islam, the version endorsed in Saudi Arabia and the likes, so I guess that with true Iranians you won't get into any religious dispute very fast.
The good thing is, it's still a relevant coin: there is still a Pahlavi out there waiting to reclaim the throne of Persia and given the way things are going in Iran right now, he may actually succeed in doing so in a while.
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
790 Posts |
Thanks, everybody! I'll check out your recommendations!
It's just that the old school family members would obviously prefer that the children remain true to their Muslim heritage, even though they are not super religious (They kind of remind me of the Catholic side of my family, which insists on baptisms and confirmations, but most of them aren't regulars at Sunday services). My friend goes to some lengths to avoid offending her elders--her wedding was a feat of diplomacy, with lots of Persian tradition, and both a Qur'an and a Bible on the table in front of the couple.
Anyway, since events like Christmas tend to be a huge family affair in her clan, I try to avoid gifts that will bring the topic up for discussion.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6130 Posts |
Getting the coins will be no problem at all, but getting a US package through Iranian customs without being searched might be tricky. Especially important since the general world attitude seems to be that ancient coins are a no-no that filthy collectors should not be stealing from their countries of origin. In fact, I would probably get it to her in person if you can.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
790 Posts |
A Pahlavi coin might really interest her. I believe her father's family was in some way part of the government before the revolution (which is why they came here). But you're right, the price is a bit high for Christmas. I have a lot of people to buy for, so my budget is pretty tight.
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
1118 Posts |
I am late to this party but I am backing a siglos too.
Hey Sap, do you have any pictures of your display? I am going to be doing one myself for the local library come October.
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Valued Member
Canada
266 Posts |
Sassanian coins are pretty cool , about 1400 years old, around 32 mm wide, silver and you can easily find a good one for about $25 or less i have 2 Sassanians that fell in the "common ugly coin price range"  Quote:
Tend to run $20-30 for common ugly coins, $50-300 for rare or beautiful coins.   or you could go back further to the Archaemenid Empire, up to around 2500 years old, but they are a bit more expensive for a good siglos  Edited by arnoldoe
11/30/2016 11:15 pm
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Moderator
Australia
16849 Posts |
Quote:
Hey Sap, do you have any pictures of your display? I am going to be doing one myself for the local library come October. Sorry, it wasn't really a formal, organized "display" like I might do for a coin show or library cabinet. It was just a bunch of coins in their 2x2s, put into a 4x5-slot album page. I had four pages for the presentation as a whole, and one page mostly taken up with Persian/Iranian coins. Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Replies: 13 / Views: 1,475 |
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Posted 11/29/2016 9:20 pm
