Drachm - Shapur I

Shapur I was the Sasanian king who defeated three Roman emperors — killing Gordian III in battle, buying off Philip the Arab, and capturing Valerian alive at Edessa in 260 AD, the only time a reigning Roman emperor was taken prisoner by a foreign enemy. That humiliation is precisely what brackets the opening date of this issue. Valerian reportedly spent his remaining years in captivity, possibly as a living footstool.

The Göbl I/1 classification places this among the earliest standardized Sasanian silver, before regional die workshops had fully diverged.