| Heritage World Coin Auctions > Showcase Auction 61375 | Auction date: 20 May 2024 |
| Lot number: 25148 Price realized: This lot is for sale in an upcoming auction - Bid on this lot  | Show similar lots on CoinArchives Find similar lots in upcoming auctions on  |
| Lot description: Ancients PARTHIAN KINGDOM. Sinatruces (ca. 93-69 BC). AR drachm (20mm, 12h). NGC Choice VF. Rhagae. Diademed bust of Sinatruces left, wearing tiara ornamented with horn and row of stags around top / ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ-ΜEΓ-ΑΛΟΥ-ΑΡΣΑΚΟΥ-ΘEOPATROEΣ / NIKATOPOΣ, archer (Arsaces I) enthroned right, in Parthian dress, with bow in outstretched right hand. Sellwood 33.4 (Gotarzes I). Shore 114 (Gotarzes I). Sunrise 302. The holder notes that this coin is also attributed to Gotarzes I. An unbelieve prismatic luminance is displayed on this coin as it catches the light. Must be enjoyed in hand. The Saka, nomadic tribes of the Eurasian Steppes whom the Greeks called Scythians, had marauded up and down the northeastern satrapies during the reigns of Sinatruces' predecessors, draining the military resources of the empire. Mithradates II had defeated the Saka and gifted Sakastan to his victorious general of the Suren clan. The House of Suren, themselves probably descended from a Scythian tribe, would in a turn of events lead the Saka in support of the eighty year old Sinatruces, overthrowing Mithradates II and ushering in a half century of political instability known as the Parthian Dark Age. The exact dating of coins from this period is challenging, as these decades were mired by dynastic infighting. This weakness and fragmentation was exploited by the king of Armenia, Tigranes II the Great, who would go on to expand his kingdom into the western satrapies. The Suren dynasty, from their base in Sakastan, would act as kingmakers for the rest of Parthian history. The characteristic stag-crested crown of Sinatruces pays homage to the culture of Sakastan, which has deep roots in hunter-gatherer cultures extending as distant as Mongolia and Siberia in the second millennium BC. Thousands of Bronze Age steles of the deer stone culture can be found along the Eurasian Steppe landscape, depicting herds of flying reindeer. These wordless monoliths communicate animist beliefs of divinity in the strength of animals and the prowess of the hunter. The stag-crested crown was continued on the coinage of Sinatruces' son Phraates III, following the Parthian numismatic practice of retaining the coronal design of predecessors. https://coins.ha.com/itm/ancients/greek/ancients-parthian-kingdom-sinatruces-ca-93-69-bc-ar-drachm-20mm-12h-ngc-choice-vf/a/61375-25148.s?type=DA-DMC-CoinArchives-WorldCoins-61375-05202024 HID02906262019 © 2024 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved |  |
