Parthia

​The Parthian Drachm

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The Parthians were a Hellenistic society that was a growing power in the East in the first century BC. They would become Rome's great rival during the Imperial period. Lucius Cornelius Sulla first encountered the Parthians circa 94 BC - more about this diplomatic encounter in this blog post.

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The drachm, a 3-4g silver (AR) coin of Parthia and the tetradrachm (4 drachms) are the main coins that I have in my collection.  There are also smaller copper coins which are fairly rare.

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The two references that I use most for Parthian coins are Shore, "Ten Dragons against Rome" and Sellwood, "The Coinage of Parthia".

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There is a useful introduction to Parthian Coins here.