Arsácida Silver Coin pendant - Mithridates IV of Parthia (No reserve price)

Silver pendant with a 1st-century BC draco (drama) of King Mithridates IV, the scarce coin of an intermittent monarch and why you can say this jewel is exceptional.

Because it features a mount (set) one of the scarce dracmas of the Arsacid ruler Mithridates IV (Arsaces XVIII), minted from September or October of 57 BC to May or June of 56 BC at the Ecbatana mint, with 85–92% silver. The centerpiece of this jewel is a artistic witness to late Hellenism and its influence in the region. Notice the details:

➤ On the obverse: Bust of Mithridates IV in profile looking left. He wears a short beard; curly hair bound by a double Hellenistic headband with ends hanging vertically over the coiffure; he wears a tunic with a decorated collar and segmented necklaces with a central medallion.

➤ On the reverse: Archist Arsaces I, founder of the Parthian Empire, seated to the right on a back-supported throne, wearing riding attire while holding a bow with the string pointing upward. Above the bow is a mint monogram, reminiscent of a sword.

Legend in seven lines in a square around the “archer”: BAΣIΛEΩΣ MEΓAΛoY APΣAKoY EΠIΦANoYΣ ΔIKAIoY ΘEΟY EYΠAТОPoΣ KAI ΦIΛEΛΛHNoΣ (“From the Great King Arsaces, Illustrious, Just, God, Born of a noble father and Friend of the Greeks”).

Indeed, there were three years of chaotic reign (57 to 54 BC) that began after he murdered his father, Phraates III, with the help of his younger brother Orodes. Mithridates took the crown where, from 12 to 15 months (circa 57–56 BC), he wielded absolute power, displaying his bad temper as well as limitations as a warrior with defeat in Armenia, where he could not recover territories.

The point is that that short initial period (circa 56–55 BC) ended in June 56 BC, when Orodes’ troops and the Suren noble family broke Mithridates IV’s defensive lines in Media, seized the palace and the imperial mint. This led to:

• Mithridates IV fleeing to Roman Syria;

• Orodes melting down his brother’s coins and recoining them with his own likeness;

• Orodes II taking the throne of the Arsacid Empire.

In reality, an attempt to erase his brother’s economic and visual legacy, but…

In short, he returned from Syria with mercenaries, reconquered Babylon and Seleucia on the Tigris (circa 55–54 BC) and at his mints he temporarily minted some coins and remained ruler in that southern part of the kingdom for 10–12 more months until the Parthian general Surena besieged him at Seleucia. Orodes II ordered his immediate execution, witnessing his elder brother die before his eyes.

So the draco on this pendant is the direct testimony of Mithridates IV’s last month in control of the empire’s main mint before fleeing to Syria.

In short, more than 2000 years of silver coinage that, due to its scarcity, gains value with time, in a timeless-design pendant that makes you part of that historical period and naturally brings people to you who start a conversation with you that would be difficult with modern jewelry.

Disclaimer: I am sending this item to you from Spain by certified mail. If you receive it in an area with a special tax regime, your local customs might hold it pending payment of duties, and that is beyond my control.