Elymais. Arsacid dynasty. Prince A (late 2nd to early 3rd centuries A.D.)

van't Haaff 19.1.1-1B; de Morgan 58-59; BMC plate XLII, 13-18, page 286, 18; Sear GICV 5918-5919; Alram --

AE drachm, 1.30 g., 11.55 mm. max., 0°

Obv: Bust facing left, wearing diadem of two bands, row of dots above, side whiskers of one row of dots, hair tuft at back of head; pellet border.

Rev: Artemis standing right, holding bow in one hand, plucking arrow from her quiver with the other hand; single dot to her right; pellet border.

According to van't Haaf, the varieties with a hair tuft are "always" accompanied by a dot or star in crescent above and an anchor to the right, although these symbols are often struck off the flan. These symbols are not present on this coin. Tracing the probable arc of the pellet border, there does not appear to be space in the off-flan fields to accommodate these symbols, or, for that matter, to accommodate a chin/beard.