Doubled the Size of My Ancient Collection with One Coin

[JamminJ]

I recently doubled the size of my ancient coin collection which now contains a grand total of two coins! Have a look:

 

It’s a silver drachm of Pathia issued under king Vologases III, just about the most common coin of Parthia.

 

Parthia was an ancient empire lasting from 247 B.C. to A.D. 228 centered in modern day Iran, but also ruling as far West as Israel and Turkey at her peak.. Not much has survived from the empire but tradition holds the first King, Arsaces I, who emerged as a leader of a tribe originating near the Eastern Caspian sea in the 4th century B.C. The Partians held off many aggressive neighbors for a century until being forced to acknowledge the regional primacy of the Seleucid monarchs in 206 B.C. Independence was restored upon the conquest of the Seleucids by the Romans in 188 B.C. Roman encroachments continued slowly until the time of Trajan’s invasion of Parthia in 115 A.D. At that time there were two rival claimants to the Parthian throne, Vologases III (on my coin) and Osroes I. Much of the fighting fell to Osroes who initially gave ground but eventually re conquered several provinces from the Roman puppet King . Hadrian succeeded Trajan as Roman Emporer and began a consolidation of the Roman holdings which spared Parthia from further losses. The curtain finally closed on Parthia when a civil war between two brothers whio both claimed the Parthian crown allowed the Sassanian empire to overrun the entire empire.

 

 

I acquired this coin in much the same fashion of my other ancient coin (details here ) as it just kind of caught my eye on a bid board and boasted the coveted purple star. I liked the crude but attractive obverse portrait, especially the hat and matching beard, as well as the giant hand held machine gun on the reverse.

 

Comments are welcome,

-JamminJ

[spiny]

Excellent coin and writeup, Jammin, but isn't that gun mounted on a tripod (or duopod) and not just handheld?

[truthteller]

That guy must be pretty strong, looks like a .50 caliber machine gun to me. Amazing how advanced these civilizations were.

 

 

 

TRUTH

[GDJMSP]

Nahhhh - that aint a .50 - that's just a water-cooled .30 cal.

 

It is kinda neat JJ - you're gettin to be as bad as me. Branchin out all over

[JamminJ]

It is kinda neat JJ - you're gettin to be as bad as me. Branchin out all over

 

In a way it's liberating to get away from date/mintmark collecting. These days I just grab whatever catches my eye!

 

-JamminJ

[syracusian]

In a way it's liberating to get away from date/mintmark collecting. These days I just grab whatever catches my eye!

 

 

 

Me too.

 

 

Nice coin,and your comments are really a treat.