Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XIV 21 Sep 2017
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Parthia, Andragoras AR Tetradrachm. Ekbatana, circa 246/5-239/8 BC. Turreted head of Tyche right, wearing pendant earring and necklace, rosettes on turrets; monogram of Andragoras behind / Athena standing right, wearing helmet, long chiton and peplos, holding owl on extended left hand and with right hand holding transverse spear behind her, shield at side; ANΔPAΓOPOY to left. Mitchiner -; BMC -. 17.23g, 25mm, 7h.
About Extremely Fine. Unique, unpublished, and of significant numismatic interest.
If we accept that the silver coinage of Andragoras was struck by the same individual responsible for the gold staters (BMC Arabia, North East Persia 1), and that this individual was the Andragoras recorded as being the satrap who rebelled against Seleukid rule in the early part of the second half of the third century BC, the types employed on this ruler's coinage now make perfect sense given their context. Andragoras faced a belligerent tribe - the Parni - on his border, and with Seleukos II preoccupied with fighting an increasingly desperate war against Ptolemy III, no assistance would be forthcoming. Thus we find the types of Tyche, wearing her mural crown, who on the obverse is invoked as the goddess governing the fortune and prosperity of the city, and Athena as military protectress on the reverse. The gold staters depicting Zeus, the supreme Greek deity, and a war-chariot guided by Nike the goddess of Victory, likewise hint at production in a war-time setting.
About Extremely Fine. Unique, unpublished, and of significant numismatic interest.
If we accept that the silver coinage of Andragoras was struck by the same individual responsible for the gold staters (BMC Arabia, North East Persia 1), and that this individual was the Andragoras recorded as being the satrap who rebelled against Seleukid rule in the early part of the second half of the third century BC, the types employed on this ruler's coinage now make perfect sense given their context. Andragoras faced a belligerent tribe - the Parni - on his border, and with Seleukos II preoccupied with fighting an increasingly desperate war against Ptolemy III, no assistance would be forthcoming. Thus we find the types of Tyche, wearing her mural crown, who on the obverse is invoked as the goddess governing the fortune and prosperity of the city, and Athena as military protectress on the reverse. The gold staters depicting Zeus, the supreme Greek deity, and a war-chariot guided by Nike the goddess of Victory, likewise hint at production in a war-time setting.