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TYRANT COLLECTION
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189
Sasanian Empire
Silver Drachm (4.08 g, 24 mm), AD 399-420
Yazdgird (Yazdgard) I, Sasanian King, AD 399-420
Sunrise # 902 (this coin), SNS Type Ib2/1a, Gobl Type I/1. Superb Extremely Fine.
Mint: KA.
The abbreviation KA has been assigned to be various mint centers within the empire. The Sunrise Col-
lection interprets KA as representing KALCY or KARZI. The name of the mint thus appears as the first
two letters on the left of the flame and the remaining letters on the body of the fire altar. The combination
of all letters read as “KALCY [DY]. This abbreviation may refer to the mint center named Karian in
the modern-day province of Fars (ancient Persis) in Iran which housed one of the most important fire
temples of the empire, close to the ancestral and spiritual capital of the dynasty. Important fire temples
such is Karian and Shiz also housed valuable treasures.
190
Sasanian Empire
Silver Drachm (4.20 g, 25 mm), AD 399-420
Yazdgird (Yazdgard) I, Sasanian King, AD 399-420
Sunrise # 904 (this coin), SNS Type Ib2/1a, Gobl Type I/1. Superb Extremely Fine.
Mint: LWDY (Rev Ardashir or Rayshahr, both on the northern coast of Persian Gulf).
This is one of the most spectacular and rarest examples of the silver drachms of Yazdgird I. This is
known to collectors as the “two line legend” variety as the legend around the image on the obverse is
written fully and without abbreviation, making it too long to complete in one circle. As mint centers,
both Rev Ardashir and Rayshahr were major hubs for ships coming from India and the far east. Rev
Ardashir was destroyed in the Arab invasion of the 7th century AD but was replaced with the new
town of Bushehr or, as the British forces called it in the 19th century, “Bushire”. The city was a major
commercial hub for Persia in trade beween various kingdoms of the Persian Gulf and overseas. The
British navy captured the port as a bargaining chip in negotiations to force Persia to give up all claims
on Afghanistan in the 1870s.