Description

Triton XIII, Lot: 536. Estimate $300. Sold for $750. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

KINGS of PARTHIA. Phraates II. 132-126 BC. AR Drachm (3.89 g, 12h). Ekbatana mint. Diademed bust left, wearing short beard; I above M to right; all within pelleted border / BAΣI ΛEΩΣ/MEΓ AΛOY down right field, APΣ AKOY/ΘEOΠATOPOΣ down left, archer (Arsakes I) seated right on omphalos, holding bow. Sellwood 16.1; Shore 41. Near EF, toned.

From the Todd A. Ballen Collection. Ex Rauch 77 (10 April 2006), lot 268; Peus 311 (31 October 1984), lot 40.

The S16 drachms with partial mint names constitute the final issues of Phraates' coinage, as their locations indicate the prolonged and initially successful military campaign he conducted against the Sakae in north and north-eastern Parthia. With his headquarters likely situated at Tambrax, Phraates' forces pushed the Sakae as far as Margiane, but they were ultimately defeated in a battle in which Phaates perished.