Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
Drachm - Hormazd IV
| Issuer | Sasanian Empire |
|---|---|
| Year | 579-590 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Pahlavi (Middle Persian) |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Zoroastrian fire altar at centre, depicted as a tiered stepped structure with flames rising from the top; two royal attendants (magi) flank the altar symmetrically, each facing inward and holding a staff or barsom, wearing crown-like headdresses. The entire composition is enclosed within a double beaded border. The mint mark 'GW' (Jay/Madinat Jayy, modern Isfahan) appears in Pahlavi script to the right of the altar, and the regnal year '10' is inscribed to the left. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Hormazd IV ruled for just over a decade before being blinded and deposed by his own nobles in 590, with his son Khosrow II briefly fleeing to Byzantine territory to secure military backing for his restoration. The reign coincided with sustained warfare on both the eastern and western frontiers, placing extraordinary fiscal pressure on Sasanian silver production. Mint output under Hormazd IV was geographically wide — the type is recorded from dozens of provincial mint signatures — which makes single-mint attributions worth scrutiny against the Göbl SNS die classifications before cataloging.