Dinar - Shapur II type Ia/6a

Shapur II ruled for 70 years — the longest reign in Sasanian history, and the only monarch crowned before birth according to court tradition, the diadem placed on his mother's womb when his father Hormizd II died without a named successor in 309. The early type Ia coinage reflects the mint consolidation efforts of his reign's first decades, before the prolonged Roman wars of the mid-fourth century reshaped imperial priorities and treasury output. Göbl's classification separates these early dinars by subtle fire-altar and attendant details that demand careful loupe work to distinguish reliably from adjacent subtypes.