Sale: CNG 66, Lot: 916. Estimate $300.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 19 May 2004.  Sold For $500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

HEPHTHALITES. Baktria? Circa 350 AD. AR Drachm (3.43 gm). Imitating Sasanian king Shahpur I. Tall narrow bust resembling Shapur I; crown with korymbos and earflap / Fire altar flanked by attendants, sprig and caduceus to either side of flames. Göbl -; Alram -; MACW -. Toned VF, heavy porosity. Apparently unpublished. ($300)

This apparently unpublished imitative dirhem of Shahpur I is possibly one of the first issues of the Hephthalite tribes that settled in Baktria in the 350s AD and established treaty relations with Shahpur II. The sprig and caduceus symbols on the reverse are not found on any other issue, but they may be intended to mimic the wreath and taurus symbols on contemporary Sasanian coins. A piece with the same reverse die was earlier attributed to the Merv mint (Classical Numismatic Group 60 [22 May, 2002], lot 1046), but this now seems unlikely.