Dear Board,
Hear are the coins I alluded to earlier—my "three kings of Orient are"!
1.
Phraates (early-mid 2nd century AD), Æ
drachm, 15.74mm, 3.78 g, 12h.
van’t Haaff
Type 14.1, Subtype 1-2A(?) (one crossbar on
anchor; BΑCΛΙЄΑC (
sic) ΦΡΑΑTHC,
reverse legend partially retrograde).
2.
Phraates (early-mid 2nd century AD), Æ
drachm, 15.58mm, 3.25 g.
van’t Haaff
Type 14.7, Subtype 2-A (small narrow
bust, one crossbar on
anchor, pellet in crescent).
3.
Kamnaskires-Orodes (early-mid 2nd century AD), Æ
drachm, 16.05mm, 4.01 g.
van’t Haaff
Type 12.3, Subtype 1-2A2 (
bust with top hair & with upward
side tufts).
They are less bluer in hand and were recently obtained from a large
hoard that a US dealer has been slowly
selling off for years. The photos were kindly taken for me by Joe Tooma.
Although
Elymais is a reasonable candidate for the homeland of at least one of the Three
Wise Men, I suspect South
Arabia could be just as, if not more, likely for all three.
Merry
Christmas!
Mark Fox
Michigan