1917.] Numismatic Supplement No. XXIX. 163 



basis of all Sassanian studies. Dorn in his preface to these 

 plates (page 9) remarks: " In this magnificent collection one 

 seeks in vain coins of the two Sassanian queens Boran-dukht and 

 Azermi-dukht and other ephemeral kings, if they ever struck any 

 coins. But the absence of these is compensated by many 

 others which are not found elsewhere. In any case this collec- 

 tion is unique of its kind and the most complete that is known to 

 me.' ' Though new types have been published , no addition has 

 been made to the list of sovereigns whose coins are known save 

 in the case of Bistam and Queen Boran. The discovery of 

 coins of any sovereign not mentioned in these plates can be 

 regarded without question as a matter of great numismatic 



interest. 



I bought recently two parcels of Sassanian coins, several 

 of which are very rare. Out of these I found two similar in 

 design to those of the last years of Khusrau Parvlz. On the 

 obverse of one is the face of a king with moustache and beard 

 and on the other that of a young boy without the slightest 

 trace of any hair on the lips or chin. The reverse of both are 

 practically the same in design, having the same mint (NIHCji) 

 and same year (two). The former bears the legend on the 

 obverse " Auharmazx," the latter " Khusrui." The crowns of 

 both these kings are exact copies of that which adorns the head 

 of Khusrau Parvlz in the issues of the last years of his reign 



(Dorn, Pi. XXX). ' . . . 



Thomas (Sassanians in Persia, p. 26) says : That these 

 headdresses have considerable significance in the attribution ot 

 our medals, and in most cases, even where the legends are 

 hopelessly obscure or obliterated, we can place our specimens 

 with the utmost certainty by the test of the form of the crown 

 which was officially adopted and usually retained throughout 

 as the banner or special discriminatory emblem of the ruling 



monarch." ... A f > 



On that assumption as well as the general design and the 

 legends I assign the former coin to Hormazd V (Dorn, , r i. 

 XXXI, fig. 2 *) and the latter to Khusrau. But the question is 

 which Khusrau ? Of course the one who ruled after Khusrau 

 Parvlz; because on comparing the portrait and tiara of his 

 second year (Dorn, PI. XXVIII, figs. 3 and 4) with tl ,ose of my 

 coin, a vast difference is at once noticeable forcing us to the 

 conclusion on common numismatic grounds that this coin is ot 

 a king who ruled after Khusrau Parvlz. As far as is known t 

 us there were three Khusraus who attained the kingship tor a 

 space during the period of anarchy. . 



Mordtmann (Z.D.M.G., 1880, p. 145) mentions a con on 



which he reads the name '« Kesra." It »»"^S 

 altogether uncertain. Thomas had proposed for this ; the > read 

 ing - Iarashf " in 1872. The Arab form " Kesra which was 

 formed much later is impossible on a Sassanian coin where the 



