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Drachm - Khusro II
| Issuer | Sasanian Empire |
|---|---|
| Year | 620 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Central device depicting a Zoroastrian fire altar with pendant ribbons, the sacred flames rising from the altar top and flanked by a star and crescent. Two royal attendants stand guard on either side of the altar, rendered in the characteristic Sasanian profile style. The composition is enclosed within a triple linear border, with star-in-crescent ornaments populating the outer margin. Pahlavi inscriptions in the fields record the mint signature and regnal year. |
| Reverse script | Inscriptional Pahlavi |
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| Additional information |
Khusro II struck this coin near the absolute peak of Sasanian territorial expansion — by 619 AD his armies held Egypt, Syria, and most of Anatolia, the furthest Persian reach since the Achaemenids. The campaigns were funded in part by looting the True Cross from Jerusalem in 614, an event that traumatized the Byzantine world and briefly made Khusro appear almost invincible. Within a decade he was dead, murdered by his own son Kavad II, and the empire he had overstretched would collapse entirely within a generation.
The Göbl II/3 type belongs to his later regnal years, when mint output remained high despite the logistical strain of holding conquered territories across three continents.