Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
Obol - Mithridates I
| Issuer | Parthian Empire (Parthian Empire (247 BC - 224 AD)) |
|---|---|
| Year | 164 BC - 132 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Obol (⅙) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| 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 | Diademed and bearded bust of Mithridates I facing right, rendered in the Hellenistic style with fine detail to the hair and beard. The diadem is clearly visible above the brow, and the portrait exhibits the characteristic sharp, angular features of early Parthian royal iconography. The field is surrounded by a reel-and-pellet border, a distinctive decorative element common to Parthian coinage of this period. The flan is irregular, as is typical of hammered silver issues of the Arsacid dynasty. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Greek |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Mithridates I transformed Parthia from a minor regional kingdom into an empire spanning Iran and Mesopotamia, seizing Media around 148 BC and Seleucia-on-the-Tigris by 141 BC. The small silver fractional coinage of his reign circulated across an extraordinarily rapid territorial expansion — territory that roughly doubled within a single decade. Sellwood 12.5 belongs to his later issues, struck after Mesopotamia fell under Parthian control and the mint infrastructure of formerly Seleucid cities became available.