Item number: A3639

Year: AD 614

Material: Silver

Size: 30.0 x 30.5 x 0.6 mm

Weight: 4.15 g

Manufactured by: Guey Mint (Jayy)

Provenance: Stephen Album Rare Coins 2025

This is a silver drachm issued under the reign of Khosrow II of the Persian Sasanian Empire.

The obverse features a right-facing bust of Khosrow II wearing a circular crown surmounted by two wings and a crescent supporting a star or sun at the top. On his shoulders are a sun symbol on the left and a crescent on the right. The left side of the crown bears a star, while the right side displays a combined crescent-and-star motif. The inscription to the right of the portrait, read vertically and from top to bottom (rotated 270 degrees), is in Pahlavi script: “𐭧𐭥𐭮𐭫𐭥𐭣𐭩” (hwsrudy), meaning “Khosrow.” On the left side appears “𐭯𐭫𐭥𐭰𐭩” (pylwci), representing his epithet Parviz, which may be translated as “Victorious.” The central image is enclosed within a double beaded border, with each of the four outer quadrants decorated with outward-facing crescent-and-star motifs. In the lower right field is the legend “𐭠𐭯𐭣” (apd), possibly a shortened form of “𐭠𐭯𐭩𐭣” (afid), meaning “Praise.” A stamp mark appears in the upper right, probably depicting a winged lion or a bird in flight.

The reverse depicts a Zoroastrian fire altar, the column of which is adorned with flowing ribbons. Above the column burns the sacred flame, flanked by a sun and a crescent. On either side of the altar stands an attendant wearing a crescent-shaped headdress, both grasping their swords inverted with the points resting on the ground. The Pahlavi inscription “𐭢𐭣” (gd) appears on the right, denoting the mint name “Guey” or “Jayy.” The inscription on the left reads “𐭯𐭭𐭰𐭥𐭩𐭮𐭲” (pnčwyst), indicating regnal year twenty-five. The reverse is encircled by a triple beaded border, with each of the four outer quadrants similarly ornamented with outward-facing crescent-and-star motifs.

Khosrow II, who reigned from AD 590 to 628, was the last powerful shahanshah of the Sasanian dynasty. His reign brought the empire to its greatest territorial and political extent, yet also heralded its collapse. Son of Hormizd IV, he ascended the throne after his father’s deposition, but was soon overthrown by the general Bahram Chobin and forced to flee to Byzantium. With the support of Emperor Maurice, he regained power and forged a close alliance with the Byzantine court. However, after Maurice’s murder, Khosrow launched a war of vengeance, during which Sasanian forces captured Syria, Egypt, and much of Asia Minor, extending the empire to unprecedented limits. These early triumphs were later overturned by the bold counter-offensive of Emperor Heraclius, who in AD 627 defeated the Persians at Nineveh. Soon after, Khosrow was overthrown in a palace coup by his son Kavadh II, who sought peace with Byzantium. The empire, weakened by war and internal strife, entered a period of turmoil and decline.

The Western Turkic Khaganate emerged after the division of the Turkic Khaganate, forming in the late sixth to early seventh centuries as a confederation of tribes in Central Asia, ruling over regions corresponding to modern southern Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan. During the reign of Shegui Khagan in the early seventh century, its power reached a peak, controlling Transoxiana and Sogdian city-states. During the Zhenguan era of the Tang, Dulu Khagan had relations with the Tang court, but later tensions increased. After his death in AD 653, the confederation fractured, and Ashina Helu proclaimed himself khagan. In AD 657, Tang general Su Dingfang defeated Helu, who was forced to surrender, after which the Western Turks were nominally subordinated to Tang authority. The Tang established the Anxi and Beiting protectorates to govern the western regions, incorporating areas such as Kucha and Kashgar. Nevertheless, Western Turkic remnants continued to resist, and Helu later rebelled again, defeating Tang forces in AD 679. Thereafter the khaganate never regained its former strength. By the early eighth century, with the Umayyad Caliphate expanding eastward and new tribal groups such as the Turgesh and Karluks rising to prominence, the Western Turkic tribal confederation disintegrated and ceased to exist as an independent polity.

物件編號: A3639

年代: 公元 614 年

材質: 銀

尺寸: 30.0 x 30.5 x 0.6 mm

重量: 4.15 g

製造地: 蓋伊 (亦名傑伊)

來源: 史蒂芬稀有錢幣專輯 2025

這是一枚波斯薩珊王朝霍斯勞二世，所造的1德拉克馬銀幣。

錢幣的正面是霍斯勞二世右側半身像，頭戴圓冠，上方兩側有翼，正上方有托舉星辰或太陽的新月。半身像肩上左側有太陽，右側有新月圖樣，頭冠左側則是星辰，右側則是新月孕星圖樣。肖像右側由上至下，為右讀(旋轉270度)的缽羅婆文(或譯巴列維文，Pahlavi script)「𐭧𐭥𐭮𐭫𐭥𐭣𐭩」(hwsrudy)，譯為「霍斯勞」，左側應為「𐭯𐭫𐭥𐭰𐭩」(pylwci)，即為其稱號「帕維斯」原文，意譯為「勝利的」。雙層繩紋狀紋飾環繞幣圖，外側四方則各有一開口向外的星月孕星圖案。右下有「𐭠𐭯𐭣」(apd)，可能是「𐭠𐭯𐭩𐭣」(afid)，意為「稱讚」。右上有一戳記，可能為翼獅或飛鳥。

背面是祆教拜火聖壇，中央壇柱飾有飛舞漂浮的緞帶，壇柱上方聖焰左右側各飾以太陽與新月。兩側各有一侍從，帽以仰月為飾，雙手倒持長劍柱地。幣圖右側有「𐭢𐭣」(gd)，為「蓋伊」(Guey)或「傑伊」(Jayy)的簡寫，標示其製造地。左側文字為「𐭯𐭭𐭰𐭥𐭩𐭮𐭲」(pnčwyst)，標示發行年為王曆二十五年。三層繩紋狀紋飾環繞幣圖，外側四方則各有一開口向外的星月孕星圖案。

霍斯勞二世(Khosrow II)，約西元590至628年間在位，是薩珊王朝最後一位強盛的沙阿，其統治期間，帝國臻至極盛，又由盛轉衰。他是霍爾米茲德四世之子，父王遭廢黜後繼位，不久卻被將軍巴赫拉姆·楚賓推翻，被迫流亡至拜占庭。在拜占庭皇帝莫里斯的支持下，他重新奪回王位，並與東羅馬建立密切聯盟。然而當莫里斯被弒後，霍斯勞以復仇為名向拜占庭發動戰爭，薩珊軍隊一度攻佔敘利亞、埃及與小亞細亞，將帝國疆域推至前所未有的廣度。這場戰爭初期大獲全勝，但拜占庭皇帝希拉克略後來展開大膽反攻，於西元627年尼尼微會戰擊敗薩珊軍，其子喀瓦德二世弒君叛亂，向拜占庭求和，帝國也由此陷入內亂與分裂。