Artabanus I came to power following the death of Phraates II, who was killed fighting the Saka invaders he had foolishly armed as auxiliaries against the Seleucids. Artabanus inherited both the throne and the ongoing nomadic crisis, dying in battle against the Tokharians around 122 BC — making his reign short enough that his coinage circulated in a genuinely compressed window. Sellwood 20.1 is the foundational type for this reign, and examples appear with some frequency in hoards from the eastern satrapies, consistent with his campaigns in that direction.
Artabanus I came to power following the death of Phraates II, who was killed fighting the Saka invaders he had foolishly armed as auxiliaries against the Seleucids. Artabanus inherited both the throne and the ongoing nomadic crisis, dying in battle against the Tokharians around 122 BC — making his reign short enough that his coinage circulated in a genuinely compressed window. Sellwood 20.1 is the foundational type for this reign, and examples appear with some frequency in hoards from the eastern satrapies, consistent with his campaigns in that direction.