Description:
Obverse: bearded bust of king facing right, wearing crown. Six-pointed star in field on either side of head. Four moon and star motifs in border outside ring.
Reverse: fire altar flanked by two attendants. Six-pointed star in the field to the left of the alter and crescent moon to the right. Surrounded by two rings.
Reverse legend: Middle Persian script in left field; mint mark in Middle Persian in right field.
Label Text:
Installed in Art Before 700 CE, Spring 2025 Label Text:
Sasanian Coinage
The coinage of the Sasanian Empire set the standard for Western Asia and the Mediterranean world from the 3rd to the 7th centuries CE. Sasanian silver coins were renowned for their consistently high silver content, especially compared to Roman coinage circulating at the same time. For example, a drachm of Sasanian ruler Ardashir I was composed of about 91% silver, while a contemporary Roman denarius had just 45% silver.
Imitating Sasanian Silver
The consistently high purity of Sasanian silver made it extremely trustworthy and it was used widely around the Mediterranean and Asia. Other rulers of kingdoms across Central and South Asia imitated the imagery of Sasanian coins (a portrait of the ruler on obverse, a Zoroastrian fire altar on reverse) to try to project some of that trustworthiness. The early rulers of the Islamic Umayyad Caliphate did as well, using the legacy of Sasanian numismatic legitimacy to stake their own claim to political authority in the region.
[Displayed with 1999.15.249, 2004.13.207, 2004.13.509, 2012.7, 2012.11.1, 2012.11.3, 2012.11.4, 2012.11.5, 2012.20.4, 2012.20.19, 2012.20.30, 2012.20.32, 2012.20.34, 2012.20.36, 2012.20.37, 2012.35, 2012.39.1, 2012.39.2, 2013.23]
Tags:
ancient; archaeology; numismatics Subjects:
Civilization, Ancient; archaeological objects; Numismatics Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=MH+2012.11.2 |
