Sale: Triton VII, Lot: 500. Estimate $150.  Closing Date: Monday, 12 January 2004.  Sold For $220. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

KINGS of PARTHIA. Mithradates V. 140 AD. AR Drachm (3.84 gm). Ekbatana mint. Diademed bust left, long pointed beard, earring visible, hair in three waves; diadem has single band, double loop, and two ends / [first line: 'King Mithradates' in Parthian script] OLIIL|-LN LI-ILN[O LIVIIG.ITO] LICAIO[V] FLN[OVC PILILLHCOC], Arsakes I seated right on throne, holding bow; monogram below bow. Sellwood 82.1; Shore 425; BMC Parthia pg. 219, 25; MACW 682 (all attributed as Mithradates IV). Toned EF, small die break and surface crack in obverse field. ($150)

Ex Peus 333 (6-11 May 1992), lot 458.

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.