with the crowned and richly adorned head of the king on the obverse, and the fire altar with its two attendants on the reverse. It was minted in Ctesiphon c.240-244. 28 mm, 4.35 gr. (274–293).
Obv: Crowned bust of Bahram II and his Queen
Shapurdukhtak, facing right; a little figure, possibly their son (later known regnally as
Bahram III), who wears a bonnet with an eagle's head, faces left, offering them a wreath.
Rev: Fire altar with attendants;
Faravahar to left of flames, taurus symbol to right (591–628), uncertain mint, dated 611.
Obv: crowned bust of Khosrow II and
Middle Persian (Pahlavi) text ⤹ '
and ⤸ '.
Rev: Facing bust of
Anahit with flame nimbus and Middle Persian i.e. Pahlavi text ⤹ '
(date) and ⤸ ' The main denomination of the Sasanians, introduced by King
Ardashir I (224–242) and inherited from the
Parthians, was the silver
drachm (
ZWZN drahm). It is a large thin coin (a novelty at the time) that weighs about 4 grams, with a diameter of 25–30 mm. It was made of rather pure silver and produced in large quantities by all Sasanian kings. Several Sasanian rulers also issued fractional silver (in much smaller numbers). Some of these fractional coins include the hemidrachm, the
obol and the
tetradrachm. Ardashir I had most likely inherited the hemidrachm and the obol from the monetary system of his home province,
Persis (i.e.
Pars). Coins of copper, brass, bronze, and (uncommonly) lead were produced under various reigns. However, the tetradrachm already fell into disfavor in the early Sasanian period, during the reign of
Bahram I (271-74), as it was mostly made out of copper with only a tiny bit of silver. Hemidrachms also only appeared at the beginning of the Sasanian period. Obols and hemiobols were used for a longer period, but they were only sporadically used for special occasions (e.g. investiture gifts, throwing in crowds). Production of the hemidrachms and tetradrachms eventually ceased under
Bahram II (274-93), but the Iranian variant of the obol, the
dang (a Middle Persian word), was minted until the end of
Kavad I's reign in the early 6th century. Gold coins were produced in limited amounts and were mainly
minted "for purposes of publicity and to compete with Roman and Kushan gold". Gold
dinars (Middle Persian:
dēnār, ultimately from
Latin denarius aureus) were also introduced by Ardashir I, the first Sasanian ruler. Gold coinage was unknown to the Parthian monetary system, the predecessor of the Sasanian. Gold Sasanian coins weigh between 7 and 7.4 grams until
Shapur III's reign (383–388). Minting of copper coins was very limited in the Sasanian Empire. During over four hundred years of Sasanian history, minting coins was a sole privilege of the ruling royal, and the typology employed on Sasanian coinage was invariably the same in every part of the empire; this shows that Sasanian mints were under tight control of the royal central authorities. Other than being used for paying taxes, the precise context of Sasanian coinage as money within the empire remains unclear. However, it is known that a large part of Sasanian coinage was used to pay soldiers and troops. Therefore, according to Philippe Gignoux and Michael Bates,
Shapur II (309–379) and
Peroz I (459–484) "must have" increased coin production during their reigns, as they conducted numerous campaigns. Massive quantities were minted under
Kavad I,
Khosrow I (531–579) and
Khosrow II (590–628), who were involved in high-profile wars. All Sasanian coins were hand struck, and, like in the
Roman Empire, coin production was regulated according to "accurate and well-organized plans". ==Iconography and typology==