In January I posted about Mithradates II, one of the most important of Parthia's kings:
https://goccf.com/t/251798&SearchTe...thradates,IIWell, on the occasion of picking up a tiny (9mm), ugly, but pedigreed Mithradates I obol from the collection of P. A. van't Haaff (author of "The Catalogue of Elymaean Coinage), I have decided to now post a few coins issued during the reign of Mithradates II's uncle and namesake Mithradates I, who ruled Parthia from c. 171 - 138 BC. I've posted some of these before, in various threads, but never as a thematic set like this...so please forgive me if some are making an encore. A number of these coins are very rare.
Mithradates I, who succeeded his brother Phraates I to the throne, was the great grandnephew of the kingdom's founder, Arsakes I. It was Mithradates I who first really established Parthia as a big player in the ancient near east, with multiple campaigns that greatly expanded the kingdom's territory. During his rule Parthia defeated Bactria, Babylonia, Elymais, and Characene.
After conquering territory in Media in the mid-2nd century BC, Mithradates pushed onward into Mesopotamia, conquering Seleucia and being recognized there as king around 141 BC. The Seleucid king Demetrius II Nikator was captured by Parthian troops. Mithradates treated Demetrius well in captivity and, in fact, gave him Rhodogune, Mithradates' daughter, in marriage.
The details of Mithradates' death are murky, with conflicting accounts of death in battle and dying peacefully in his sleep. Traditionally he is thought to have died around 138 BC, but some recent research suggests a later death in 132 BC.
Drachm (bashlyk type)
Sellwood 10.1
This coin also posted at
http://coinproject.com/coin_detail.php?coin=233304(A number of the basklyk types, attributed by Sellwood to Mithradates I, are these days being listed as "Phriapatius to Mithradates I"...Phriapatius was Mithradates' father, and so the new attribution, posited by Dr. G. R. F. Assar, allows for the possibility that the king depicted here may be the father rather than the son)
Obol (bashlyk type)
Sellwood 10.19
Ex-David Sellwood Collection
Drachm (diadem type)
Sellwood 11.1
This coin also posted at Parthia.com as PDC #21735:
http://parthia.com/mithradates1.htm#Type_7 and
http://parthia.com/coins/pdc_21735.jpg
Tetradrachm (diadem type)
Sellwood 13.2
Obol (bashlyk type)
Sellwood 9.7
Drachm (diadem type)
Sellwood 13.6 or 13.10
Ex-David Sellwood Collection
Obol (diadem type)
Sellwood 12.4
Ex-P. A. van't Haaff Collection
(the reverse here depicts Mithradates' brother Bagasis)
Posted 09/03/2016 06:52 am
