Drachm - Ardashir I type IIIa/3b

Ardashir I founded the Sasanian dynasty by defeating the last Arsacid king, Ardavan IV, at the Battle of Hormozdgan in 224 AD — ending nearly five centuries of Parthian rule. His early coinage was issued while administrative and monetary conventions were still being negotiated, drawing on Parthian weight standards even as the political break was total. The type IIIa/3b classification in the SNS system reflects a transitional phase in die development during his reign, before the series settled into the more rigid typological consistency that would define later Sasanian issues.