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Obol - Manchihr IV
| Issuer | Kingdom of Persis |
|---|---|
| Year | 160-200 |
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| Shape | Round (irregular) |
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| Obverse description | Bearded bust of Manchihr IV facing right, wearing an elaborate mural or grape-cluster crown adorned with rows of pellets, with long curling locks of hair falling behind the neck. The ruler is draped and depicted in the Persis dynastic style, with fine engraving typical of late Persis silver coinage. The portrait occupies most of the obverse field, with minimal border. |
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| Reverse description | Enthroned figure of the ruler or a fire-altar scene rendered in the Persis tradition, facing right, with detailed garments visible. Aramaic inscription appears in the field to the right of the central device. The reverse is struck on an irregular flan characteristic of hammered fractional silver coinage of the Kingdom of Persis, with the design partially off-center. |
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| Additional information |
Persis was a semi-autonomous client kingdom under Parthian suzerainty that maintained its own coinage well into the second century AD — a striking anomaly in a region otherwise dominated by Parthian tetradrachms and drachms. The fractional silver of this period, obols struck at under a gram, served local exchange needs that the heavier Parthian issues could not efficiently fill. Manchihr IV is poorly attested in the written record; much of what numismatists know about his reign comes from the coins themselves.
The Alram reference cross-indexes a drachm under the variant transliteration Manuchtir III, reflecting ongoing scholarly disagreement over both the regnal numbering and the romanization of the Middle Persian name.