Sale: CNG 66, Lot: 866. Estimate $300.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 19 May 2004.  Sold For $380. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

SASANIAN KINGS of PERSIA. Bahram II, with Queen and Prince 3. 276-293 AD. AR Drachm (3.95 gm). Jugate busts of Bahram, crowned and cuirassed, and his queen, wearing a bonnet with a boar's head and cuirass, right, facing the cuirassed bust of his son (Prince 3) left, who wears a bonnet with a boar's head and presents wreath / Fire altar with attendants, the right one presents wreath; three pellets to left of flames. Göbl -; Paruck -; Alram -; MACW -; De Morgan -. Darkly toned, nice VF. Unpublished(?) type. ($300)

From the Bellaria Collection.

As with the previous lot, there are ostensibly no coins with Prince 3 in this late series. This coin is most similar to Göbl X/3, which has the same headdress for the queen, but is with Prince 4. This series, in general, has been poorly researched, and the examples in the Göbl plates are indicative. For example, pl. 4 figs. 64 and 68 show the typical rendering of the eagle's head bonnet of Prince 4. Likewise, pl. 4 fig. 63 and 64 show the typical rendering of the boar's head bonnets on Prince 3 and the queen, respectively. This coin clearly displays a boar's head on both the queen and the prince. Interestingly, the headdress of the prince in Göbl pl. 5 fig. 71 (= Alram 748) is stylistically similar to the boar's head bonnet, but this prince has been identified by all authors as Prince 4.