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Pillar of the Community
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Thought I'd share my latest pickup, which is my fourth coin of Kamnaskires V of Elymais. Kamnaskires V ruled Elymais from around 54/3 - 33/2 BC. He was the last in the line of the Kamnaskirid rulers of the kingdom. Subsequently an Arsacid line, related to the Parthian ruling family, would take over the leadership of Elymais. My new little drachm, below, features a very gnome-like portrait of Kamnaskires V on the obverse. And, whereas previous kings of the Kamnaskirid dynasty had images of seated gods influenced by Seleucid types for the reverses of their coins, Kamnaskires V started a new tradition: the reverses of his coins feature a left-facing male bust conjectured by some to be a depiction of the sky god Belos. The earliest kings of the Arsacid dynasty of Elymais, who would start ruling in the late 1st century BC, would continue this iconography for their reverses. The rare little (16mm) drachm I picked up is a Van't Haaff 9.1.2-2.a (The VCoins dealer I purchased it from had the king correctly identified, but was slightly off with the Van't Haaff citation) The date, in exergue on the reverse, is depicted backwards/retrograde (Elymaean die engravers of this period started getting sloppier with reverse legends and dates). The backwards date, in addition to the gnome-like obverse portrait and lack of the standard accompanying anchor, are the distinguishing features of the particular Van't Haaff number I just cited. The date is supposed to read zeta-xi-sigma. (The xi-zeta are clearly visible on this specimen) This equates to 267 in the Seleucid calendar, or 46/5 BC, for the minting. The reverse legend, much of which is off-flan or worn, is Greek for "King Kamnaskires, grandson of King Kamnaskires." Dealer pic below...the coin is enroute.  For a less gnome-like rendition of the king, here's a link to one of my tetradrachms of this ruler: http://www.forumancientcoins.com/ga...radrachm.jpg |
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Pillar of the Community
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Bob congrats on a super addition to your collection.
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Pillar of the Community
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Bob just from curiosity, is your avatar picture the same king as the coin?
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Pillar of the Community
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Thanks for the comments, guys. It is an interesting little coin. Quote:
...is your avatar picture the same king as the coin? Thanks for asking, justinokay. No, not the same, but they do look kinda similar, don't they? Not surprising since we're talking about the same general region and time. The avatar is Mithradates II, a ruler of Parthia. Here's a closeup of Mithra II, from one of my tets. Not the same coin that I created the avatar from, though:  |
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34402 Posts |
Great pick-up Bob!
"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
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Awesome pick up! I don't see silver Elymais coins up for sale very often... at least not in my price range!
These must have been a nightmare to attribute!
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Pillar of the Community
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Quote:
Awesome pick up! I don't see silver Elymais coins up for sale very often... at least not in my price range!
These must have been a nightmare to attribute! Thanks, Steve. Yes, the Elymaean silvers are rarer, all coming from either the Early or Later Kamnaskirid dynasties. The bronzes we often see are from the later Elymais Arsacid Dynasty. Yes, attribution must have been a nightmare for the scholars who undertook the task: Bell, de Morgan, Senior, Alram, etc. The most recent effort - and the one I use - is Van't Haaff. His arguments (where he differs with his predecessors, that is) are well reasoned and convincing, it seems to me. |
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Great writeup, Bob. I was intrigued by the entry problem with the date on the drachm, but I was not able to find anything like that, in either direction, on the tet. Is it in the same place (which would put it off the flan)?
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Pillar of the Community
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Quote:
...not able to find anything like that, in either direction, on the tet. Is it in the same place (which would put it off the flan)? Thanks, Irbguy. Yes, on the tet I linked to the date is off the flan, which is typical for the larger issues of this king. Thus in my listing for that one at Forum, I have the broad range of his reign: 54 - 32 BC. |
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Nice little coin Bob  Thanks for sharing and the info. Paul |
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Posted 07/06/2017 7:21 pm
