Catalog
Drachm - Hormazd VI
| Issuer | Sasanian Empire |
|---|---|
| Year | 632 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Bust of Hormazd VI facing right, wearing an elaborate Sasanian crown surmounted by a crescent and globe finial with billowing wings or streamers, the king depicted with a beaded necklace and layered robes rendered in the late Sasanian stylistic tradition. The portrait is encircled by a double ring border with four pellets or floral ornaments positioned at the cardinal points outside the inner ring. Pahlavi inscriptions appear in the field to the left and right of the royal effigy. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Central fire altar depicted frontally with a stepped or tiered base, flanked by two attendants standing in profile facing the altar, each dressed in Sasanian court robes and wearing elaborate headdresses, their hands raised in a gesture of veneration. The entire composition is enclosed within a double linear and beaded border, with four pellet or crescent ornaments placed at the cardinal points outside the inner circle. Pahlavi legends in the field on both sides of the altar record the mint name and regnal year. |
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| Additional information |
Hormazd VI's reign lasted mere months in 632 AD, a disputed claimant during the catastrophic civil wars that fragmented Sasanian authority in the empire's final years. Arab forces under the Rashidun Caliphate were already pressing into Mesopotamia when these coins were struck. Most numismatists consider his issues among the rarest of the late Sasanian series precisely because the mint infrastructure was collapsing around him — several mints had already fallen out of Sasanian control entirely by this point.