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Drachm - Hormazd I type I/1
| Issuer | Sasanian Empire |
|---|---|
| Year | 271-273 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Bust of Hormazd I facing right, wearing a distinctive short crown surmounted by a volute rising above a diademed headband, the crown topped with a globe upon which rests a pointed ornament. Long ribbons trail from the diadem behind the king's head in the Sasanian royal tradition. The effigy is rendered in the characteristic flat, stylised relief of early Sasanian coinage. A Pahlavi legend encircles the portrait in the field. |
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| Reverse description | A fire altar (atashdan) depicted in the form of a stepped column with a base and capitellum, with flames rising from the altar's top, occupying the centre of the field. To the right of the altar stands the god Mithra, facing the altar and extending a wreath of investiture toward it. To the left stands a figure wearing the distinctive crown of Hormazd I, with one hand raised in a gesture of reverence or benediction. A Pahlavi legend is inscribed in the surrounding field. |
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| Additional information |
Hormazd I ruled for less than two years before dying — possibly of illness — leaving his brother Bahram I to take the throne in 273. The brevity of his reign is the single most important fact about this coin: production windows for Hormazd I types were short, and the surviving die corpus is correspondingly small. Göbl's classification of this as type I/1 places it among the earliest Sasanian drachms to show the standardizing tendencies that would define the dynasty's silver coinage for the next four centuries.