PARTHIAN KINGDOM – Orodes II, 57/6 – 38 BC. AR drachm

PARTHIAN KINGDOM – Orodes II, 57/6 – 38 BC. AR drachm, late wartime series, Seleukeia-on-the-Tigris mint, regnal year unknown (c. 39-38 BC). Obverse: Diademed and bearded bust of Orodes II right, hair arranged in tiered “satrapal locks”; diadem ends draped down the back. Eight-pointed star in left field along beaded border; behind head, crescent; vertical standard with spear-head in background. Border of pellets. Reverse: Greek legend arranged in four columns around: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΝ / ΑΡΣΑΚΟΥ ΕΥΕΡΓΕΤΟΥ / ΔΙΚΑΙΟΥ ΕΠΙΦΑΝΟΥΣ / ΦΙΛΕΛΛΗΝΟΣ (“Of the King of Kings Arsakes, Benefactor, Just, Illustrious, Friend of the Greeks”). Seated Arsakes / Archer left on backless throne, holding bow across extended right hand; behind throne, vertical sceptre. Sellwood 47.8 (star before, crescent behind, Seleukeia controls), Shore 228, Sunrise Collection 344. Göbl, Mithradates grp. IV/3. Frosty silver lustre with light golden-steel cabinet toning; obverse fields lightly brushed long ago, devices well struck in high relief; reverse legend complete and clear. The star-and-crescent signature marks the final Seleukeian output of Orodes II, struck while the king contested succession after the assassination of his heir Pacorus in 38 BC. The titulature adds the lofty epithets Euergetes and Epiphanes, adopted late in the reign to bolster divine legitimacy amid ongoing Roman pressure. These emergency issues are scarcer than the early drachms of Orodes and often come poorly preserved; this sharp, centrally-struck piece is consequently highly desirable.