Pius Parthia confirmation

[Diederik]

Dear members,

Today I aquired this sestertius of Antoninus Pius:
ANTONINVS AVG PIVS PP laureate bust right / (PARTHIA) S-C COS II in ex.
Parthia standing left, holding crown in outstretched hand and resting left hand on quiver with bow and arrow. RIC 586 Cohen 572
So far I have only been able to find one other specimen (CNG), but from other dies.
Your expert comment (admiration is allowed too ) is very welcome.

Frans

[Diederik]

Here the CNG example:

F

[Diederik]

slight bump...


F

[curtislclay]

It has to be Parthia, of course: she's the only province to hold a bow and quiver resting on the ground behind her in that way, and the R of her name is visible at 11 o'clock.

Not the rarest province in the series, but not the commonest either; all of course are scarce.  Strack 791-2 cites specimens in Paris (2), BM (2), Vienna, Naples, Bologna, and Feuardent (dealer in Paris).

It's interesting that Parthia, a foreign country, is shown donating crown gold to Pius on his accession.  Strack p. 42:  "We know from other sources that client kingdoms did indeed pay crown gold," with citations in note 102

[Diederik]

Thank you Curtis,
I find this series of the provinces and boundary countries very interesting from an historical point of view and also from a sculptural aspect, as Patricia in an earlier thread about one of my AFRICA coins pointed out.
Thanks for the reference and comment, which are, as always, highly appreciated.

regards,

Frans