Greek Coins
The Kingdom of Persis, Bagadat early – mid 3rd century BC
Tetradrachm early-mid 3rd century BC, AR 16.92 g. Diademed head of Bagadat r., wearing kyrbasia and pendant earring. Rev. Aramaic legend on two lines Bagadat seated l. on high backed throne, holding cup and sceptre; in l. field, standard. Alram 511. BMC Arabia p. 195, 1. Sunrise 557.
Very rare and in exceptional condition for the issue. An attractive portrait exceptionally
well struck and complete, light iridescent tone and extremely fine As the holdings of the Seleucids weakened in their eastern territories, the independent kingdoms of Parthia, Bactria and Persis emerged to fill the void. In the Persian homeland that long ago had given rise to the Achaemenid-Persian Empire, and in the future would give rise to the Sasanian Empire, Bagadat appears on the strength of numismatic evidence to have been the first king of the newly independent state of Persis in the mid-3rd Century B.C.

Though interested in shedding any vestige of Greek rule, these new, local rulers found it useful to retain some conventions of Greek life, including coinage. The tetradrachms of Bagadat are decidedly non-Greek in appearance, yet the basic format of the early Persis coinage is firmly based in Greek traditions of the early Hellenistic period, including the choice of denominations, the use of a royal portrait on the obverse, the convex-concave fabric and the fabrication method through striking. We might add to this the obvious: so many early Persis tetradrachms used Greek coins as their planchets.

The portrait of Bagadat is remarkable and exotic, with his impressive mustache, textured beard, large hoop earring and elaborate satrapal headdress, the bashlyk. This thoroughly oriental portrait offers a rare glimpse in to the culture of the priest-kings of Istakhr. While this reverse scene follows a Greek model (even down to the detail of the form of the throne, which is based on that found on so many tetradrachms of Alexander III), another of Bagadat shows him worshiping before the great fire altar of which he was the hereditary guardian in the faith of Zoroastrianism.