Drachm - Vardanes I

Vardanes I ruled during one of the most fractious periods in Parthian dynastic history, spending virtually his entire reign in armed competition with his brother Gotarzes II for control of the empire. Roman sources, particularly Tacitus in the Annales, document the rivalry in unusual detail — Rome repeatedly exploited the succession crisis, at one point backing Meherdates as a third claimant. Vardanes was assassinated, probably around 47 AD, while hunting.

The Sellwood 63.13 attribution to Artabanos II rather than Vardanes I reflects ongoing scholarly dispute over die sequences and regnal chronology in this series.