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Drachm
| Issuer | Parthian Empire |
|---|---|
| Year | 190 BC - 135 BC |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Round (irregular) |
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| Obverse description | Bust of the king facing left, wearing a distinctive Parthian bashlik (soft helmet) adorned with a diadem and cheek-guards, with long hair flowing behind in loose strands. The effigy displays a pronounced aquiline profile with a pointed beard, rendered in a bold, slightly archaizing Hellenistic style characteristic of early Parthian coinage. The king is draped in what appears to be a torque or necklace at the base of the neck. The field is plain and unlettered, the portrait dominating the flan with confident, deeply struck relief. The overall style reflects the artistic synthesis of Hellenistic influence with indigenous Iranian tradition. |
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| Reverse script | Greek |
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| Additional information |
Mithradates I transformed the Parthian state from a minor breakaway satrapy into a territorial empire rivaling Rome, seizing Media and then Babylonia from the Seleucids between roughly 148 and 141 BC. The coinage shifts across his reign to reflect this — early issues imitating Seleucid conventions, later ones asserting a distinctly Arsacid identity as the mint network expanded westward into freshly conquered territory.
Sellwood 10.1 falls within the transitional phase of that expansion. The fabric tends toward broad and thin, a Seleucid inheritance the Parthian mints never fully abandoned.