90, Lot: 146. Estimate $150. Sold for $92. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

SASANIAN KINGS of PERSIA. Yazdgard I. 399-420 AD. AR Drachm (28mm, 4.20 gm). GW or GO (Gurgan or Qumm?) mint. Crowned and cuirassed bust right / Fire altar with attendants and ribbon; Pahlavi legend on altar column, crescent above pellet-in-crescent to left of flames, crescent above pellet to right of flames. Göbl I/1; Alram 854. Near EF, bright surfaces.

From the Bellaria Collection. Ex Malter 55 (7 November 1993), lot 476.

Yazdgard I was an enlightened king, noted for his peaceful nature and religious tolerance. He is often regarded as the “Christian king” among the other Sasanian monarchs, as he was particularly tolerant towards them (even to the point of serving as the president of the Counsel of Christian bishops in Seleukeia in 410 AD). In 408 AD he made a treaty of peace and friendship with Rome, and the young Roman emperor, Theodosius II, was placed at his court under Yazdgard’s guardianship. Naturally, his strong pro-western stance disaffected many among his eastern nobility, and he was murdered in far off Hyrcania, possibly while in action against the Huns.