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Dinar - Shapur II
| Issuer | Sasanian Empire |
|---|---|
| Year | 309-379 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Dinar (1) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Inscriptional Pahlavi |
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| Reverse description | A stepped Zoroastrian fire altar rendered in high relief at centre, flanked by two ribbons or streamers falling to either side, the flames rising prominently from the altar's capital. The composition is rendered in the canonical Sasanian style, with the altar occupying the full field within a beaded border, symbolising the royal and sacred fire of the Zoroastrian faith. |
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| Additional information |
Shapur II ruled for seventy years — the longest reign in Sasanian history, and the only ruler crowned before birth according to tradition, the diadem reportedly placed on his mother's womb when nobles confirmed the succession. His gold dinars span a reign that encompassed three wars with Rome, the sack of Amida in 359, and the death of Julian the Apostate on campaign in Mesopotamia in 363. The treaty that followed ceded Rome's trans-Tigris territories, a territorial gain Shapur's predecessors had never managed.
The Sunrise 861 reference places this piece among the better-documented die studies for the type.