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Tetradrachm - Hyspaosines Undated issue
| Issuer | Kingdom of Characene |
|---|---|
| Year | 127 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Diademed and draped bust of King Hyspaosines facing right, rendered in high relief in the Hellenistic tradition. The king wears a royal diadem with ends visible behind the head, and his curled hair is arranged in loose waves framing the face. The portrait displays finely modeled facial features with a prominent nose and strong jaw, characteristic of the Characene royal coinage. A beaded border encircles the design. The field is smooth and uninscribed. |
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| Reverse description | A bearded male figure, identified as Poseidon or a river deity, seated left on rocks, depicted semi-nude with drapery across the lower body. The figure raises the right hand and holds a trident or scepter in the left, with a crescent symbol visible beneath the seat. The royal Greek legend is inscribed vertically in two columns flanking the central figure, reading ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ to the right and ΥΣΠΑΟΣΙΝΟΥ to the left. A monogram appears in the lower central exergual area. A beaded border surrounds the entire reverse design. |
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| Additional information |
Hyspaosines founded Characene — a kingdom carved from the marshlands at the head of the Persian Gulf — around 127 BC, the same window from which this coin likely dates. His timing was opportunistic: Parthian power had fractured badly following Phraates II's disastrous campaigns against the Saka, leaving the lower Mesopotamian delta effectively ungoverned. Hyspaosines moved quickly, briefly seizing Babylon itself around 127–124 BC before Parthian forces expelled him.
Sellwood 100.1 is the foundational type for the series, struck before Characenean coinage developed the degraded celature that marks later reigns.