163, Lot: 88. Estimate $75. Sold for $142. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

KINGS of PARTHIA. Phraates IV. Circa 38-2 BC. Æ Tetradrachm (28mm, 11.91 g). Seleukeia on the Tigris mint. Diademed bust left, wart on forehead, / Phraates seated right on throne, Athena standing left before him, presenting diadem and holding sceptre. Cf. Sellwood 52; cf. Shore 273. Fine, brown patina, edge nick.

The coin had been cleaned almost to bare metal, but there are enough remaining spots of original corrosion products to assure that this is an ancient piece, probably a fourrée core.