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Pashiz - Wahram IV
| Issuer | Sasanian Empire |
|---|---|
| Year | 388-399 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Central fire altar depicted in low relief, a hallmark motif of Sasanian religious iconography symbolizing Zoroastrian sacred fire. Two attendant figures, likely priests or royal guards, flank the altar on either side, rendered in a schematic style characteristic of late Sasanian lead coinage. The altar is shown with a stepped base and crowned flame, consistent with standard Sasanian numismatic convention. The design is contained within a beaded or plain circular border, with the field showing the rough, porous surface typical of cast or hammered lead flans. No visible Pahlavi legend is legible on this specimen due to the base-metal fabric and die wear. |
| Reverse script | Pahlavi |
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| Additional information |
Lead pashiz issues of Wahram IV occupy an awkward corner of Sasanian numismatics — base-metal fractions whose exact denominational relationship to the silver drachm remains unresolved. Wahram IV ruled for roughly a decade, a reign defined more by its uneventful stability than by crisis, which makes the relative obscurity of his coinage a function of scholarly neglect rather than historical drama. Lead issues specifically are poorly documented in major collections, surviving in small numbers with provenance rarely traceable beyond nineteenth-century excavation lots in the eastern provinces.