Sale: Triton XIII, Lot: 786. Estimate $150.  Closing Date: Monday, 4 January 2010.  Sold For $260. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

KINGS of PARTHIA. Mithradates V. Circa AD 140. AR Drachm (3.80 g, 11h). Ekbatana mint. Diademed bust left, wearing long beard, earring, and spiral torque; all within pelleted border / “mtrdt mlk” in Parthian/(quadrate O)ΛIIΛI-ΛИ ΛI IΛ[N(quadrate O)V]/IVIIΓIT(quadrate O)] [ΛIXΛ(quadrate O)V] [I]ΠIΦΛИ[(quadrate O)V(three-bar Σ)]/[ΦIΛIΛΛHX(quadrate O)(three-bar Σ)] (sic), archer (Arsakes I) seated right on throne, holding bow; monogram below bow. Sellwood (Mithradates IV) 82.1; Shore 425; PDC 24642 (this coin). Near EF, toned.

From the Todd A. Ballen Collection. Ex Bellaria Collection (Classical Numismatic Group 66, 19 May 2004), lot 814; Peus 326 (1 November 1989), lot 404.

Mithradates V was a usurper who rose against Vologases III, and seized the Parthian territories in Iran. The beginning date of his usurpation is debatable; some sources claim as early as 129 AD while others place his entire reign in 140 AD. Practically nothing else is known of him, except that an inscription indicates that he was probably the father of Vologases IV.