A Recent Pick-Up That's Actually A Coin (Elymais)

Well done Bob! Frank seems to know his stuff pretty well so well done with this cherry pick.

Thanks, gents.




Yes, that's precisely what we see with these. It's a fascinating occurrence in ancient numismatics. Given the preservation of decent, comprehensible obverse portraiture throughout the reigns of the so-called Early Arsacid Kings, the reverse degradation was certainly intentional. Here's a pic of some coins from this period of Elymaean history. I don't know that these are in chronological order (since individual king's names were not written on these undated issues), but it's fun to imagine that they were. Notice the progressive degeneration of the reverses.



Here are some comments I made in another forum:

"One of the interesting things about this sub series in Elymaean numismatics is the degeneration of the reverse bust over a number of decades, during which time the obverse busts remain intact and comprehensible. The gradual degeneration can only be an intentional, slowly performed erasure done by the new Arsacid Dynasty which replaced the previous Kamnaskires Dynasty. The reverse portrait was a carryover from coins of the so-called Later Kamnaskirid Dynasty, and I believe it may have represented the progenitor of that family, Kamnaskires I, the first ruler of Elymais. Regarding the purposeful, progressive degeneration of the reverse by the Arsacids, van't Haaff states, "the issuers of these coins wanted to change the iconography to break with the previous kings, but they were sensitive to the fact that abruptly changing the iconography would hinder the acceptance of the coinage in local trade." So, I think we can view the Arsacids' slow physical erasure of that portrait as an attempt to methodically eliminate the Kamnaskirids from the collective memory.

My speculation that the reverse portrait might be the Kamnaskirid Dynasty's progenitor is perhaps on shaky ground - but it sure makes sense given the visual evidence of extended erasure, doesn't it? On the other hand, even if, as some believe, the reverse image is that of Herakles, Zeus, Belos, or other mythological figure, I think that the Arsacids must have been threatened by its association with Kamnaskirid rule. Perhaps the god/hero (if that's what he is) was a visual statement about the legitimacy of Kamnaskirid rule? I believe that the accompanying reverse legends, that along with the bust get degenerated over time, were a carryover from the reverses of the last coins of the Kamnaskirids, and it read" ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ / ΚΑΜΝΑΣΚΙΡΟΥ / ΤΟΥ ΕΓ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ / ΚΑΜΝΑΣΚΙΡΟΥ, usually interpreted (according to van't Haaff) as "King Kamnaskires, grandson of King Kamnaskires." So, the bust, whether a mythological hero or flesh-and-blood progenitor of the dynasty, seems to have been connected with the lineage of the Kamnaskirids and the legitimacy of their rule. And thus it became a target of the Arsacids, who might well have feared repercussions if they eliminated it immediately upon wresting control of Elymais."

TBH, when I look at the reverse of the OP coin, what jumps out is not so much the degraded bust, as the strange thin lines all over the place.

Is it an overstrike? A double strike? In either option, how come nothing's visible on the obverse? Pretty sure doubled dies weren't yet possible back then.

Always nice to see these type of coins.

Nothing comparable to this slow and intentional erasure, Paul. At least not that I know of.

Lovely example Bob
Bob's back on coins! You'll need another cabinet
I assume some of your weaponry and pottery compliment the coinage you collect?

It's nice to see you back in the realm of coins again, Bob.

Another superb example.