Drachm ca. 100-50 Parthian Numismatists – the scholars who study coins – refer to the ‘front’ side of the coin, which usually features the head of a person or god, as the ‘obverse,’ and the ‘back’ side as the ‘reverse.’On the obverse of this silver coin, a bust of the king faces to the left. He has a long beard and wears a domed hat with earflaps (called a ‘tiara’) with a diadem (the headband worn by victorious athletes in ancient Greece) tied over it. The tiara is decorated with three semicircles of dots around a star. A border of dots surrounds the reverse shows a seated man f
Drachm ca. 100-50 Parthian Numismatists – the scholars who study coins – refer to the ‘front’ side of the coin, which usually features the head of a person or god, as the ‘obverse,’ and the ‘back’ side as the ‘reverse.’On the obverse of this silver coin, a bust of the king faces to the left. He has a long beard and wears a domed hat with earflaps (called a ‘tiara’) with a diadem (the headband worn by victorious athletes in ancient Greece) tied over it. The tiara is decorated with three semicircles of dots around a star. A border of dots surrounds the reverse shows a seated man facing right. He wears striped sleeves and trousers under a cloak, as well as a pointed hat with earflaps and a diadem and heeled boots with laces. In his hand he holds a bow with the bowstring upwards. He sits on a high-backed throne. A Greek inscription, reading "of great king Arsaces the sole ruler, father-loving, renowned and Greek-loving" surrounds the coin was struck by an unknown Parthian king, probably in the early first century The king on the obverse is probably meant to be the coin’s issuer, wearing a diadem as a symbol of victory and a tiara, the main type of Parthian royal crown. The identity of the figure on the reverse is unknown; perhaps it is an idealized Parthian king, depicted as an inscription on this coin, like those on almost all Parthian coins, names the first ruler of the empire Arsaces I (reigned ca. 247–217 ), rather than the current ruler. It may be a reference to the dynasty founded by Arsaces, or perhaps the seated archer is meant to represent him. It is also possible that all Parthian kings were called ‘Arsaces’ as a title or throne coin was excavated at Shahr-i Qumis, approximately 100 miles northeast of Tehran, in 1967. This is likely the site of Hecatompylos (‘the city of one hundred gates’), a city founded (or perhaps simply re-named) by Seleucus I Nicator (reigned 305-28
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