The exploits of Alexander the Great mark a great divide in the history of the ancient West. Numismatically, the changeover is marked by a stylistic change from the often finely-designed and -wrought local coins of what we like to call the Classical period to the standardized mass production of imperial issues that we term Hellenistic. Alexander's empire broke in pieces on his death in 323 BC, and in the course of time local issues began to reappear.
In the eastern regions the conquered peoples chafed under the domination of the foreign Greeks, and watched for the weakness that inevitably comes to the fore in an absolute monarchy. The realm of the Seleukids, stretching from Asia Minor to Afghanistan, was especially unstable by virtue of its vast extent, polyglot and fractious population, and long succession of bad rulers. Less than a century after its forging, the bulk of the country was torn away by locals.
The people of Iran had a long and glorious imperial tradition. They could not get over the overthrow of their ancient monarchy by that upstart Alexander, but they were not particularly happy with the authors of their eventual deliverance. The people who cut the Seleukids down to size were illiterate nomads from the northeastern region of Khorasan. We've come to call them the Parthians.
Parthian rule was marked by military utilitarianism. Culture to them was effete city stuff. They were interested in advanced weaponry - it is thought that they originated the stirrup, which allowed a horseman to wield a heavy spear. And money. They really liked money. Cities - they were for taxing. That's the way it was in Iran during the four centuries of Parthian rule.
The main Parthian coin was the silver drachm - call it a dime, because it was about that size, though one of them would have been an enviable day's wage back then. In the later years of the dynasty tetradrachms were issued for use in the western regions, where that denomination was the favorite coin of the Greeks across the border. There was some copper too, some of it local, some royal. But there was no gold coinage at all, not a single one. The Parthian kings kept it all.
If you want to get "a Parthian coin" that is not a problem. In general they are common, though of course there are rarities. There is this amazing and humorous wrinkle to the series however. All of the kings were officially named Arsakes, after the founder of the dynasty, and that is how, with a few late exceptions, they are named on their coins. So to make attributions, the numismatic scientists have relied on stylistic considerations and hoard analysis, and have thus come up with a tentative progression. What that means in reality is that they're guessing. But it makes sense that the earlier coins are more Greek-looking, the later ones less. Just keep the historical ambiguity in mind, when you're looking at the nearly-identical coins of Arsakes I and Arsakes II, the latter sloppier and more common, or the later coins of Artabanus II and Vologases III, the chief distinction being evidently the length of their beards. For much of this series, we suppose rather than know.
Bob Reis has been a collector for forty years, a dealer for twenty, and a writer on numismatic subjects for ten.
Bob Reis has over 40 years of numismatic study and 20 years dealing in world numismatics under his belt. As the author of the column "From A to Z" featured in World Coin News and numerous features in other publications, he is a dealer for a myriad of historical collectible "stuff".
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