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!
Tetradrachm - Phraates II
| Issuer | Parthian Empire |
|---|---|
| Year | 132 BC - 127 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Silver |
| 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 | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Greek |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | A male deity, identified as a seated figure in Hellenistic style, is depicted facing left upon an omphalos or throne, holding a Nike in his extended right hand and a cornucopiae in his left. Two monograms appear in the exergue below the figure. The reverse composition follows established Seleucid-derived iconographic conventions, combining divine imagery with royal legitimacy symbols. A Greek legend surrounds the central type. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| 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 |
Phraates II inherited a Parthian kingdom already strained by Seleucid attempts at reconquest. His reign opened with the decisive defeat of Antiochus VII Sidetes at the Battle of Ecbatana in 129 BC — a victory that effectively ended Seleucid power east of the Euphrates for good. Antiochus died in the battle, and Phraates reportedly sent his body home in a silver coffin.
Phraates II was himself killed around 127 BC fighting Scythian tribes — the very nomadic mercenaries he had hired to fight Antiochus and then failed to pay.