Sale: Triton VII, Lot: 451. Estimate $200.  Closing Date: Monday, 12 January 2004.  Sold For $330. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

KINGS of PARTHIA. Orodes II. 58/7 - 38 BC. AR Drachm (3.87 gm). Ekbatana mint. Diademed bust left, wart on forehead, neck torque ends in sea horse; star before, crescent above star behind / BASILEWS BASILEWN AR-SAKOU EUERGETOU DIKAIOU EPIFANOUS [F]ILELLHNOS, Arsakes I seated right on throne, holding bow; anchor behind, monogram below bow. Sellwood 48.9; Shore 261; BMC Parthia pg. 90, 185 (Orodes I); MACW 576. Toned EF. [See color enlargement on plate 7] ($200)

Ex Peus 326 (1-3 November 1989), lot 382.

The Parthian kings were called brothers of the sun and moon, hence the star and crescent on their coins. The royal wart was the sign of true membership in the Arsakid family and was used at least as early as the time of Orodes II to establish legitimacy to the king’s claim to the throne. In modern terminology it is called a tricoepithelioma, a hereditary lesion on the forehead, known to be passed on for as long as one hundred years. In the Arsakid family, according to tradition, it lasted throughout the dynasty, almost five hundred years. It is probable, however, that the later kings’ claim to the royal wart was counterfeit, with the lesion on later tetradrachms replaced by a lock of hair.