Catalog
Drachm - Phraates IV
| Issuer | Parthian Empire |
|---|---|
| Year | 38 BC - 2 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Drachm (247 BC-224 AD) |
| 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 | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The enthroned archer type standard to Arsacid drachms: Arsaces I depicted as a hero seated right upon an omphalos throne, wearing a diadem and holding a strung bow in his right hand. A monogram appears below the bow in the field, serving as a mint or officina mark. The entire design is encircled by a multi-line Greek legend reading the full royal titulature, arranged around the periphery of the flan. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Ecbatana, modern-day Hamedan, Iran Rayy, modern-day Hasanabad, Iran |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Phraates IV secured the Parthian throne by murdering his father Orodes II and then systematically eliminating his brothers — some thirty of them. Roman relations dominated his long reign: he returned the legionary standards captured at Carrhae in 53 BC to Augustus in 20 BC, a diplomatic gesture Rome celebrated as a military victory and Phraates likely viewed as a cheap concession. He was eventually poisoned by his Italian slave-wife Musa, whom he had accepted as a gift from Augustus.
Sellwood 54 spans a wide chronological range within the reign, with die studies suggesting continued production at Mithradatkart.