1917.] Numismatic Supplement No. XXVIII. 55 



On the other hand I am unaware of any coin of Zamasp bear- 

 ing a crescent in the field of the obverse. Similarly the star be- 

 hind the head is a constantly recurring device on the coins of 

 ^husrau I, but is never, I believe, found on those of Zamasp. 



Of still more importance is the actual legend. On the coins 

 of Zamasp the name is given usually in the abbreviated form 

 of Zam, as admitted by Mr. Thanawalla. and occurs but rarely 

 m full. Mordtmann (Z.D.M.G., 1865, p. 440) describes adrachme 

 of this king on the obverse of which he believes the full name 

 to be legible ; and in Dorn (PI. XVIII, fig. 8) we find a solitary 

 specimen with Zamasp in its entirety, having Zam on the right 

 and Asp on the left of the crown. No coin yet discovered, 

 however, bears merely the second half of the name, and in the 

 case under discussion I would submit that not only is the read- 

 ing h^9 = (a)sp untenable but that mv rendering oi 



of 



j»11 



The first 



3& *JU = Khus(rui) is both natural and con 



portion of the inscription is composed of the latter half of " a " 

 and "u" and the second letter is unquestionably "s." The 

 first stroke of the " a " is not apparent, but the " u " is ver y 

 distinct (cf. Dorn, PI. XXII, fig. 6; also PI. XXII, fig. 14, PI. 

 XXV, fig. 56, and PL XXVI, figs. 10 and 14). 



I refer to the coin illustrated by Dorn (PI. XXII fig 6) 

 more particularly as it was struck at the same mint (Merv)' as 

 that under discussion, and consequently we may expect to find 

 in both the same local characteristics in script ; peculiarities in 

 writing being almost as common as local distinctions in dialect 

 I he com given by Dorn is of the fourth regnal year, while that 

 under review is of the third, and the two present a marked 

 similarity in almost every respect. This similarity is most 

 striking in the case of the first two letters of the obverse 

 legend. I have in my own cabinet a coin of the fifth regnal 

 year of Khusrau I from the same mint, and this again dis- 

 plays almost identical characteristics, save it bears on the ob- 



Khus (rui) bearing 

 under examination. 



fzu; the legend 



Mordtmann 



(Z.D.M.G., XXXIV, 1880, p.109) the mint city of Merv is not 

 mentioned as issuing coins of the third year of Zamasp, and this 

 year is similarly omitted in the history of the Merv mint by 

 De Morgan (Revue Numismatique, 1913, p. 349). 



The crescents on the margin constitute a further point of 

 material importance in the design. These are never found on 

 the coins of Zamasp, and Drouin (Rev. Arch., 1898) states defi- 

 nitely that their introduction dates from the thirteenth year of 

 Kobad I (501 a.c), whereas Zamasp reigned from 497 to 499 

 a.c. It must be remembered that the reign of Kobad is divided 

 into two parts ; the first from 488 to 497 (regnal years I to 9), 

 and the second, after Zamasp, from 499 to 531 (years 11 to 43)! 



