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Drachm - Bahram V
| Issuer | Sasanian Empire |
|---|---|
| Year | 425-438 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Drachm (1⁄12) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
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| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
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| Reverse description | A fire altar with two pendant ribbons occupies the central field, flanked symmetrically by two royal attendants standing in profile and facing inward toward the flame. An inscription appears on the altar shaft, and additional letters are positioned to the left of the flames, identifying the mint or regnal details in Inscriptional Pahlavi. The composition follows the standard Sasanian reverse type, emphasizing Zoroastrian religious symbolism. The entire design is contained within a beaded border, with Pahlavi legends distributed in the surrounding field. |
| Reverse script | Inscriptional Pahlavi |
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| Edge | Log in to see details |
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| Additional information |
Bahram V — Bahram-e Gur, "the Wild Ass" — owed his throne to a deal brokered by the Lakhmid king al-Mundhir, who provided the Arab cavalry that swept aside the rival claimants in 420. The early years of his reign saw renewed conflict with Byzantium over the persecution of Christians in Sasanian territory, producing a war in 421–422 that ended in a peace treaty guaranteeing religious tolerance on both sides of the frontier. The unlisted mint on this piece is characteristic of the period; Bahram's prolific silver output drew on provincial mints whose attributions remain contested in the scholarship.