Sasanian Coins

This page will contain Sasanian coins and is a work in progress as I build it with attribution tips and techniques. For more information on coins from the Sasanian culture, please visit Thomas Mallon-McCorgray's site. My deepest gratitude to Tom Mallon-McCorgray and Howard Cole for their assistance in confirming or changing my attributions of the coins and understanding the various marks and references. The "standard reference" I will be using for this section is Sasanian Numismatics, written by Robert Göbl in 1971, published by Klinkhardt & Biermann in Germany, 97 pages with 16 plates, 1 map and 16 tables. It is a very interesting book with many line drawings of crowns, mint marks, dates, legends and devices to assist with attributions.

Sasanian coinage can be somewhat intimidating, but it is often very beautiful. Once you learn the different attributes to observe, determining the ruler, mint, year, etc. can come along without too much difficulty. I've been told, once a person gains an understanding of the crown each king or queen wears, it becomes easy to quickly attribute a coin to a ruler. Below is a chart, showing each ruler and their crown, as I get examples.

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Understanding the obverse of a Sasanian drachm:

Here we see the ruler, Khusro II, bust facing, head right, wearing winged crown surmounted by star and crescent, inside double dotted-border, crescent with star at 3, 6 and 9 o'clock.  There is Pahlavi script in the lower right margin and to the left and right of the king's portrait within the borders.

To the upper right of the king, inside the borders and keeping in mind Pahlavi is read from right to left, we find his name: 'hwslwb', or Khusro.  The Kh is also sometimes spelled as X or Ch, so you may see Khusro (Mitchiner), Xusro (Göbl) or Chosroes (Frye), depending on the reference used for attributions.

To the left of the portrait, also within the borders, there is more Pahlavi script.  On this coin, it reads GDH apzwt, translating to something along the lines of 'may his glory/splendor increase/grow' and refers to the ruler.  Therefore, reading all of the script together, we get 'Khusro, may his glory grow'. The GDH is a ligatured ideogram, translating to x^uarr, meaning splendor (from Göbl, Plate XV). Anywhere in this section you find something in upper case, it is either an ideogram or an acronym.

The script in the lower right margin reads APD.  APD is an expression of praise and translates to 'good/excellent' or 'wonderful'.  Not all coins will have writing in the margins.

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Understanding the reverse of a Sasanian drachm:

This reverse shows a common theme of Sasanian coinage - two attendants (or guards) flanking a flaming altar, crescents on their heads, inside triple dotted-border, crescent with star at 3, 6, 9 and 12 o'clock.  This scene was symbolic for the Zoroastrianism religion the Sasanians followed. 

To the right of the right attendant is the mint mark.  This mintmark reads DA for the mark for the Darabgird mint, in what is modern-day Iran.  Note - not all Sasanian coins will have a date or mint mark.  Also, the locations of the mints themselves are not agreed upon by all experts, so there will be variation again, depending on the attributing reference.

To the left of the left attendant is the date.  The date on this coin is from year 'pncsyh', or 35, of Khusro II's reign.  He reigned from 590-591 then from 591-628 AD, so this coin would be from 624/625 AD.

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Crown Identification Table

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Name Identification Table

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Mint Identification Table

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Regnal Year Identification Table

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References used for Sasanian Coinage:

Göbl, Robert, Sasanian Numismatics, Klinkhardt & Biermann, Braunschweig, Germany, 1971, 97pp.
Valentine, W. H., Sassanian Coins, Rahul Publishing House, Delhi, India, 1993, 118pp.