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Dinar - Shapur II
| Issuer | Sasanian Empire |
|---|---|
| Year | 320 |
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| Technique | Hammered |
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| Reverse description | A stepped Zoroastrian fire altar with a prominent flame rising from its top occupies the center of the field, rendered in the characteristic Sasanian style with a fluted column shaft and a tiered base. Two attendant figures (fire-altar guardians) flank the altar at either side, facing inward toward the sacred flame. Pahlavi inscriptions appear in the field to the left and right, as well as above and below the altar, recording the regnal year and mint information. The entire design is enclosed within a beaded border, consistent with Sasanian gold coinage of this period. |
| Reverse script | Pahlavi |
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| Additional information |
Shapur II came to power under extraordinary circumstances: crowned before birth, the Sasanian nobles reportedly placed the diadem on his mother's womb after the death of Hormizd II in 309. He would go on to reign for 70 years — the longest of any Sasanian king — waging three separate wars against Rome and earning the epithet "Lord of the Shoulders" for his treatment of captured enemies. The 320 date places this coin in his early reign, well before the decades of Roman campaigning that would define his rule.