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 Replies: 14 / Views: 2,341 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7066 Posts |
Thought I'd share my latest auction win, which is my eighth coin of Orodes II of Parthia (not to be confused with Orodes II of Elymais...totally different guy). Arrived today:  Orodes II. Circa 57-38 BC. BI Tetradrachm (31mm, 11.42 g, 12h). Seleukeia on the Tigris mint. Struck circa 46/5 BC. Diademed bust left, neck torque ends in sea horse / Orodes seated right, and Tyche, holding cornucopia, standing left, holding palm between them. cf. Sellwood 47.1-4 (for type); Sunrise -; Shore 21. VF, porosity, hint of deposits, scratches and graffiti. Orodes came to power in Parthia after he and his brother Mithradates III murdered their father Phraates III in 57 BC. He was king at the time of the famous Battle of Carrhae in 53 BC, in which Crassus' invading Roman army consisting of seven legions (estimated at about 42,000 men) was defeated by a Parthian force that was not quite a quarter that size. My other Orodes II coins are below. Some of these have made CCF appearances before. To start, the other tets:  tetradrachm, 57 - 38 BC Sellwood 46.5 - 6v (This coin listed at Parthia.com as PDC 53345)  tetradrachm, 57 - 38 BC Sellwood 48.1 The reverse shows the king enthroned, holding Nike and a scepter. Ex-David Sellwood Collection  tetradrachm, 57 - 38 BC Sellwood 47.4 variant Ex-David Sellwood Collection (This coin listed at Parthia.com as PDC 23354) And other denominations, three drachms (perhaps soon to be gone from my collection) and an obol:  And, as a show-and-tell postscript, here are two of the four coins I own of the other guy we know as Orodes II: Orodes II of Elymais. These are from about two centuries after his namesake above. Both of these are AE tets:  AE tetradrachm, early to mid 2nd century AD Van't Haaff 13.3.1-3B  AE tetradrachm, early to mid 2nd century AD Van't Haaff 13.3.1-2A |
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Moderator
 United States
34416 Posts |
An all-Orodes II post. Nicely done!
"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
Russian Federation
5174 Posts |
Orodes II of Parthia totally looks like Peter the Great. Very similar moustache, vaguely similar 18th century European hairstyle.
I'm pretty sure I've seen someone with a much more similar hairstyle (if you ignore the crown at the top it's totally from the 18th century), but I can't quickly find any portrait that fits both the hairstyle and the moustache (Joseph Ducreux is pretty close on the hair, but he doesn't have a moustache).
And IIRC we talked about that before, but I don't recall where exactly.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
564 Posts |
Very nice Bob.  |
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21788 Posts |
Exceptional Parthian.
Yours must be arguably one of the best Parthian collections in the country.
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Moderator
United States
23731 Posts |
Outstanding group of Parthian's.
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
7066 Posts |
Thanks for the comments, gents!
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2624 Posts |
Excellent coin and write up...
That group of "other denominations" don't get rid of the top coin that portrait is fantastic! I like the portraits generally on these coins, with their long flowing locks and beards :-)
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Valued Member
United States
90 Posts |
Fabulous collection of "Orodi" Bob! Thanks for sharing.
Steve S.
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Pillar of the Community
 Spain
2752 Posts |
I agree a super addition with some nice detail But for me I love those 2 tets at the bottom especially the last one  Thanks for sharing Paul |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7066 Posts |
Thanks, David, Steve, and Paul! David, what I particularly like about the drachm you mention - other than its good metal, portrait, and strike, that is - is the clarity of the rendition of the hippocamp on the necklet:  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1315 Posts |
Great collection!
It's impressive and informative seeing them all together.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7066 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6130 Posts |
Super acquisitions there, Bob!
I can see this was a man who loved his titles:
BASILEWS
BASILEWN
ARSAKOU
EUERGETES
EPIPHANOS
PHILILLENOS
DIKAKOU
(Taking a stab from my limited Greek knowledge)
King of kings, Arsaces the Benefactor, God-manifest, Friend of the Greeks, the Righteous
Very articulate compared to the scratchy gibberish on his drachms!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7066 Posts |
Thanks, Steve. Yeah, some of these guys did indeed like their titles. And, yes, proper Greek held up at the Seleukeia on the Tigris mint, where the tets were minted - but ultimately reduced to decorative gibberish at Ecbatana, Mithradatkart, and the rest - where drachms were produced.
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Replies: 14 / Views: 2,341 |
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Posted 07/17/2017 10:36 pm
