247, Lot: 197. Estimate $200. Sold for $475. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

KINGS of PARTHIA. Mithradates IV. Circa 58-53 BC. AR Drachm (20mm, 3.93 g, 1h). Mithradatkart mint. Diademed bust left, wearing necklace with medallion / Archer (Arsakes I) seated right on throne, holding bow; monogram below bow. Sellwood 40.3 var. (legends); Shore 190 var. (same). Good VF, double struck on reverse. Exceptionally broad flan, allowing the full bust to be displayed.

This particular example is highly exceptional, especially during this period of Parthian coinage, when typically the obverse was struck quite low on the flan to ensure the full head of the king is always visible, resulting in the bust being truncated on almost every coin. Here, though, the coin was struck dead center in an apparent attempt to display the entire bust of the king. The silver must not have filled the die completely with the first strike, so the coin was struck again, producing the doubling effect on the reverse.