Sale: Triton VI, Lot: 515. Estimate $500.  Closing Date: Monday, 13 January 2003.  Sold For $550. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

KINGS of PARTHIA. Artabanos IV. 216-224 AD. AR Drachm (3.72 gm). Bust left with medium forked beard extending beyond beaded border, wearing tiara; abbreviated king’s name in Aramaic behind head / Blundered legend, archer seated right on throne holding bow; monogram below bow. Shore 465; Sellwood 89.3. EF. Very attractive! ($500) 

Artabanos IV was the last sitting Parthian King. He fought three battles over a period of four to six years against the rebel Artaxerxes V of Persis and his allies. Artabanos was killed at the battle of Hormuzdagan in Susiana, and the victor Artaxerxes V went on to become Ardashir, first emperor of the Sasanian Dynasty.