As a newcomer, the following question got me banned from another coin site. As my first question, I am posting it here as a litmus test for myself and to gain further information. Thanks in advance!
The description for the attached coin reads as follows:
"SASANIAN KINGS, Shahpur I. AD. 241-272. Ć (3.22 gm; 25 mm).
no mint mark. Bust right / Fire altar flanked by two attendants."
"Core of silver drachm, minted from Roman Antonionis captured in the battle with Valerian and Philip the Arab. Choice VF. Original find patina."
The above part about "captured in battle" has really intrigued me, and although I have heard that coins can tell a story, I was wondering HOW it was inferred that this coin told this particular story.
Here is the information that I was able to obtain so far:
In Robert Gobl's Sasanian Numismatics, he says, "The drachm (Middle Persian 'drahm') was generally made of fine silver with the usual additives. Only under Shapur I is there an obvious debasement which is temporally and regionally limited. I have tried to explain this by pointing out that Shapur I, during his struggle against Rome (and presumably when conquering Antioch which which was the principal Roman mint place in the East), carried off Roman Antoninian flan (1 Antoninianus = 1 Double Denarius) and used them for his purposes... No overstepping of booty coins has as yet been discovered."
TO SUMMARIZE,
- "Captured in battle" is inferred based on the (lower) silver content only
- No roman text is present (which would be an obvious sign)
(h/t to Parthicus for all the above information)
MY QUESTIONS:
- Is there a non-destructive way to tell that a coin has lower silver content (such as by measuring the weight/volume ratio)?
- Isn't it still possible that war itself could result in lower silver content like U.S. steel pennies during WWII?
- If there's no Roman writing under the coin, then we are saying that the Sasanians hauled off blank silver coins from a mint?
Posted 05/03/2019 12:44 am
to the community
