PARTHIA, Phraates IV, c 38-2 BC, silver, drachm, Rhagae mint

DescriptionA silver drachm of the Parthian king Phraates IV, c. 38-2 BC. The Parthians conquered Persia from the Seleukids and governed it as a centralized state. One of the foundations of their prosperity was control of the luxury caravan trade along the “Silk Road.” They were the biggest opponents of the Romans during their ascendancy.The Romans, as they were building their empire, preferred to let the local coinage arrangements remain in place. As they developed their political system into the Cult of Personality that was the Empire, they started putting imperial portraits on the local coins. Later, as the Empire began to shrink, they preferred to centralize their coinage operations, eliminating local control. There were also allied and client states, some of which, at times, issued coins celebrating the alliance or subservience.This category includes Greek and Roman coins and those of neighbors and successors, geographically from Morocco and Spain all the way to Afghanistan. Date ranges for these begin with the world’s earliest coins of the 8th century BC to, in an extreme case, the end of Byzantine Empire, 1453 AD.