Posted 08/05/2017 10:53 pm
Adam, congrats on picking up a nice little Elymaean drachm at a great price! And just one day after Finn235 posted another drachm from Elymais. This makes me very happy.
I should clarify that your coin, technically, is from Elymais rather than Parthia. But given that Elymais was, like Persis and Characene, what is sometimes referred to as a "semi-independent client kingdom" or a "dependency" of Parthia, within the territories controlled by Parthia, sometimes "Parthia" shows up in the attributions of these coins. These client kingdoms had the right (usually) to mint their own coins.
Both your coin and Finn's are from the latest of the three periods in Elymaean history. This last period is sometimes referred to as the Elymais Arsacid Dynasty, a time in which the rulers of Elymais were related to the ruling Arsaces family of Parthia.
"BMC" is A Catalogue of Greek Coins in the British Museum, produced over 29 volumes from 1873 - 1927. The most current and preferred reference for coins from Elymais is Pieter van't Haaff's Catalogue of Elymaean Coinage from 2007.
Here's the most up-to-date reference on your coin:
Phraates
Early to mid 2nd century AD
AE drachm
Van't Haaff 14.7.2-1
Justin, you're right that by the later years in Elymais, no pure silver coins were issued, although some continued to be minted in billon. In Parthia proper, however, silver drachms and debased silver tetradrachms continued until the early third century fall to the Sassanians. Here's an excerpt from my short essay on Elymaean coins:
"Denominations of the Elymais Arsacid Dynasty consist almost exclusively of AE tetradrachms and drachms, although the final few rulers of the kingdom issued some smaller unspecified AE units. Coins of pure silver are entirely absent during this dynasty. Some have speculated that by this time the Parthians may have taken Elymaean precious metal reserves for their own use."
I should clarify that your coin, technically, is from Elymais rather than Parthia. But given that Elymais was, like Persis and Characene, what is sometimes referred to as a "semi-independent client kingdom" or a "dependency" of Parthia, within the territories controlled by Parthia, sometimes "Parthia" shows up in the attributions of these coins. These client kingdoms had the right (usually) to mint their own coins.
Both your coin and Finn's are from the latest of the three periods in Elymaean history. This last period is sometimes referred to as the Elymais Arsacid Dynasty, a time in which the rulers of Elymais were related to the ruling Arsaces family of Parthia.
"BMC" is A Catalogue of Greek Coins in the British Museum, produced over 29 volumes from 1873 - 1927. The most current and preferred reference for coins from Elymais is Pieter van't Haaff's Catalogue of Elymaean Coinage from 2007.
Here's the most up-to-date reference on your coin:
Phraates
Early to mid 2nd century AD
AE drachm
Van't Haaff 14.7.2-1
Quote:
But to my knowledge these were struck in later Parthian Empire when silver was less available
But to my knowledge these were struck in later Parthian Empire when silver was less available
Justin, you're right that by the later years in Elymais, no pure silver coins were issued, although some continued to be minted in billon. In Parthia proper, however, silver drachms and debased silver tetradrachms continued until the early third century fall to the Sassanians. Here's an excerpt from my short essay on Elymaean coins:
"Denominations of the Elymais Arsacid Dynasty consist almost exclusively of AE tetradrachms and drachms, although the final few rulers of the kingdom issued some smaller unspecified AE units. Coins of pure silver are entirely absent during this dynasty. Some have speculated that by this time the Parthians may have taken Elymaean precious metal reserves for their own use."
Edited by Kamnaskires
08/05/2017 11:21 pm
08/05/2017 11:21 pm
