New gallery, Parthian focus

[Kamnaskires]

 :Chi-Rho_noPinOval:Just uploaded a gallery of my Parthian coins: https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/index.php?cat=16274

Please stop by to poke around.  FYI, I opted to follow Dave Welsh's convention (from the Classical Coins website) of dividing the history of Parthia into three parts (early, middle, late)...thus three folders of coins.  Enjoy.

- Bob

[Dk0311USMC]

Very nice collection Bob!  I still have a whole lot of catching up to do on my own gallery....   Hopefully ill see you at the ACSG later this month. I'm working on freeing up that evening on my calendar.

[Steve E]

A very nice Parthian collection indeed! Looks like you have been collecting them for a long time!

I have long admired these, but have yet to obtain any. Some in your collection look familiar, like I may have bid on them too. If so I'm glad they found a really nice home!

What is the significance of the figure on the rev. on the early coins? Looks like he is handing off his bow, like he is done fighting, or offering peace.

I really need to study these more! The artistry in the first two eras in particular is first rate!!!

Thanks for sharing your beautiful coins!

~Steve

[Kamnaskires]

Thanks for the nice comments, gents.

Steve, the archer that is depicted on the reverse of many coins in the series is believed to represent Arsakes I, the founder of the dynasty.  As Fred Shore states in his important book Parthian Coins and History: Ten Dragons Against Rome, "Ancestor worship was practiced among the Parthians, and was extended to their coinage." 

I'm not sure that anyone has ever definitively determined what the gesture of holding the bow in that manner means.

Bob

[Kamnaskires]

"Very nice collection Bob!  I still have a whole lot of catching up to do on my own gallery....   Hopefully ill see you at the ACSG later this month. I'm working on freeing up that evening on my calendar."

Thanks, Danny.  I really hope you can make it for my presentation.  I'll post a note in the "Ancient Coins Clubs and Shows" thread a few days prior to the Ancient Coin Study Group meeting, though I doubt there are too many St. Louis members of this board who might read it and attend...but we'll see.  See you soon!

[Randygeki(h2)]

Wonderful collection!

[Jay GT4]

And you said Parthians weren't your specialty!  Very nice collection, and since I got my mis-attributed Parthian, which you helped me with I'm taking a real interest in them.

[Kamnaskires]

Just added two nice new acquisitions.

1. An Elymaian tetradrachm from the period of the "Uncertain Early Arsacid Kings," late 1st century BC to early 2nd century AD: https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-73884

2. A rare Parthian tetradrachm (one of my most satisfying auction victories thus far): Phraates II, 138-127 BC: https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-73885

Enjoy.