Drachm - Hormazd IV

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.