Getty Museum

Drachm of Yazdgird II

Unknown

Date

A.D. 438–457

Medium

Silver

Culture

Near Eastern (Sasanian)

Department

Coins

Institution

Getty Museum

Yazdgard II, the king of the Sasanian empire of Iran in A.D. 438 - 457, is depicted on the front of this drachm. His coinage followed the pattern established by the first Sasanian kings some four centuries earlier: on the front, the portrait bust of the king; and on the back, a fire-altar flanked by attendants with spears, an image evoking the Zoroastrian religion of the Sasanids. On this coin, Yazdgard's elaborate crown is surmounted by a finial capped by a crescent and a globe. In general, inscriptions on the front include the king's name and praises to his virtues, while those on the back specified the city in which the coin was minted and the year of issue. Yazdgard ruled in difficult times. Soon after he became king in 438, there were conflicts with the Romans and full-scale war loomed close before the two sides made peace. During Yazdgard's reign the northeast borders of his empire were the site of repeated skirmishes with the Hephthalites, a Central Asian nomadic people, before an uneasy truce was struck. In 450 and 451, Armenians rebelled against Yazdgard's efforts to convert them to the Zoroastrian religion.

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