Catalog
Tetradrachm - Phraates V
| Issuer | Parthian Empire |
|---|---|
| Year | 1 BC |
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| Value | Tetradrachm (4) |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The dynastic type of Arsakes I depicted as an archer seated to the right upon an omphalos throne, holding a strung bow in his right hand. A Greek legend surrounds the central device, with the regnal date (AIT) inscribed below the bow and the month name (ΔAICIOY) placed in the exergue. The inscription, partially preserved, proclaims the full royal titulature of the Arsacid king. The composition follows the standard Parthian tetradrachm reverse convention established at the Seleucia on the Tigris mint. |
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| Reverse lettering | [BACΙΛΕΩC BACΙΛΕΩΝ ΑΡ]CΑΚΟΥ [ΕΥ]ΕΡΓΕΤΟΥ ΔΙΚΑΙΟΥ [ΕΠΙΦ]ΑΝΟΥC [ΦΙΛΕΛ]ΛΗΝΟC |
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| Additional information |
Phraates V came to power after murdering his own father, Phraates IV, with the assistance of his mother Musa — a former Italian slave girl given to Phraates IV as a gift by Augustus. The two then married, a union so scandalous it triggered a Parthian aristocratic revolt that drove them both from the throne within a few years. This tetradrachm dates to that brief, turbulent co-reign.
Sellwood 57.5 is among the scarcer varieties of this short series, which closed well before the dynasty stabilized under Orodes III.