Sale: CNG 60, Lot: 1054. Estimate $4000.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 22 May 2002.  Sold For $4000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

SASANIAN. Shapur III. 383-388 AD. AV Dinar (7.36 gm). Sind mint. Crowned and cuirassed bust right, "Sri" before / Fire altar with tripartite shaft, two attendants flanking, head of Ahura Mazda (?) above. Göbl I/1 (unlisted); Sellwood -; cf. Paruck 262. Near VF. Extremely rare and apparently unpublished. Important! ($4000) R.C. Senior detailed some electrum staters of the period of Vahran V and later, one of which bears the legend "Sri" before the bust, IN: The Celator, February 1991. These are attributed to the mint of Sind. This is reinforced by the existence of a Dinar of Shapur III in the collection of Dr. Lawrence A. Adams, which does bear a "Sri" before the bust. The Paruck coin is held by the Bibliotheqé National in Paris, and weighs 94.13 grains. The example in Paruck lacks the "Sri," and has different legends, but shares a very similar reverse type with this example. This coin is possibly only the second known!