Sale: CNG 70, Lot: 530. Estimate $300.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 21 September 2005.  Sold For $520. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

[Medieval] LOCAL ISSUES. Merv. Circa 695 AD. Countermarks on an AR Drachm (3.89 g, 3h) of Sasanian king Khosrau II dated RY 13 (604 AD) from LYW mint. Crowned and cuirassed bust right, "afid" in lower right field; c/ms: "MRWRWT in Pahlavi in incuse; tamgha above "MRW" in Pahlavi in incuse; and sun symbol within horns / Fire altar with attendants. For coin type: Göbl II/3; Alram 917; for c/ms: Göbl, Dokumente KM14, 33, and 47. Good VF. ($300)

It is uncertain as to who applied these countermarks, but are believed to have been either the Hephthalites, early Umayyad Arab governors, or Turks.