Pre-Long Beach Auction #78

Kingdom of Persis. Uncertain king I. Silver Drachm (4.0 g), late 2nd century BC. Head right, wearing diadem and satrapal cap surmounted by eagle; scar on cheek. Reverse Fire temple, Ahura-Mazda above; on left, king standing right; to right, standard surmounted by eagle. Cf. Klose & Müseler 3/5 (lacking crescent on kyrbasia); cf. Alram 551; Sunrise -. Boldly struck on excellent metal. Superb Extremely Fine.

There are two issues generally recorded for the Kings of Persis which show the king wearing a satrapal cap surmounted by an eagle: one attributed to Autophradates II and one usually attributed to an "Uncertain King I". The issue of Autophradates (Alram 547) has a very distinctive style portrait that is readily identifiable, and which is different from this coin. This coin has a portrait style nearly identical to the issues attributed to "Uncertain King I" (Alram 551) except for two features: there is usually a crescent on the back of the cap, which this coin lacks, and the portrait on this coin shows a scar on the king's cheek, a feature also found on the hemidrachms and obols of this issue, but not present on Alram 551-3. Interestingly, neither Alram, Klose & Müseler, or Sunrise illustrate an example without the crescent and with a scar, although a number of them have been observed on the market. Does this represent a different, yet identified king, or perhaps a later issue for the "Uncertain King I" after he received an injury in battle?
Estimated Value $400 - 500.