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Drachm - Phraates I / Mithridates I
| Issuer | Parthian Empire |
|---|---|
| Year | 168 BC - 132 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Bust of the Parthian king facing left, wearing a soft pointed kyrbasia headdress with earflap and diadem ties visible at the neck. The effigy is rendered in a blended Hellenistic-Iranian artistic style, with fine facial features including a short beard and pronounced cheekbone. The king is depicted in a draped military garment, with the kyrbasia's pointed apex rising prominently above the head. A Greek inscription runs along the periphery of the flan. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Standing figure of the Parthian archer, depicted in three-quarter view facing right, wearing a draped Parthian costume with trousers and a belted tunic. The archer holds a strung bow in the right hand, standing upon or before an omphalos. The figure is enclosed within a laurel or olive wreath border. A Greek legend surrounds the type, reading ΜΕΓΑΛΟΥ ΑΡΣΑΚΟΥ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΑΥΤΟΚΡΑΤΟΡΟΣ or similar royal titulature, with ΜΕΓΑΛΟΥ clearly visible at the top of the reverse field. |
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| Additional information |
The overlap in attribution here is deliberate — this type bridges the reigns of Phraates I and the early coinage of Mithridates I, the king who transformed Parthia from a regional power into an empire stretching from Mesopotamia to Bactria. Mithridates I's westward campaigns in the 140s BC seized Media and then Seleucia-on-the-Tigris itself, capturing the Seleucid king Demetrius II in 138 BC. The drachm coinage of this transitional period reflects a mint system still adapting to sudden imperial scale.
Sellwood 10.17 places this among the earlier Mithridatic issues, before the royal titulature fully stabilized.