Sale: Triton XIII, Lot: 707. Estimate $750.  Closing Date: Monday, 4 January 2010.  Sold For $1600. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

KINGS of PARTHIA. Vonones I. Circa AD 8-12. AR Tetradrachm (13.28 g, 12h). Seleukeia on the Tigris mint. Dated Hyperberetaios SE 322 (September AD 11). [B]A4IΛEY4 BA4IΛ EωN ONωNH4, diademed bust left, wearing long beard and spiral torque; all within pelleted border / BΛ(three-bar Σ)IΛ(three-bar Σ)[Ω(three-bar Σ)]/BΛ(three-bar Σ)IΛ(three-bar Σ)Ω[N] ΛP(three-bar Σ)ΛK[(quadrate O)V]/(three-bar Σ)V(three-bar Σ)IΓ(three-bar Σ)T(quadrate O)[V] [ΔIKΛI(three-bar Σ) [E]ΠIΦAИ(quadrate O)V(three-bar Σ)/[Φ]IΛEΛΛHИ(quadrate O)(three-bar Σ)] (sic), Nike advancing left, holding diadem and palm frond; B[KT] (year) to left; VΠ(three-bar Σ)I(three-bar Σ)(three-bar Σ)I(three-bar Σ)T[A]. Sellwood 60.3; cf. Shore 328; PDC 29496 (this coin). Good Fine, toned, light scratches. Very rare.

From the Todd A. Ballen Collection. Ex Classical Numismatic Group 69 (8 June 2005), lot 759.

After being forced into exile by his stepmother Musa, Vonones settled into a comfortable life in Rome. A few years later, the subsequent coups that removed Phraatakes and Orodes III from the throne led to his recall in 8 AD. However, the same Parthian nobles that put him in power found themselves dismayed at the extent of Vonones' Romanization: he did not even like to ride a horse! His coinage also broke with tradition, depicting Nike (a western convention) on the reverse rather than Arsakes I. Eventually a civil war ensued with Rome supporting Vonones, and the Parthian nobles backing Artabanos II. Four years later, Vonones was again in exile, this time taking the throne of Armenia. The Armenians had no great love for him either, and, with the help of Artabanos III, threw him out in 16 AD. Vonones wandered through Syria and Cilicia, attempting to gather forces for an invasion of Parthia, but was assassinated in 19 AD. There is no known coinage for Vonones as king of Armenia.