RESOURCESis F.D.J. Paruck's "Mint-marks on Sasanian and Arab-Sasanian coins,"
INSI 6 (1944): 79-151. A. R. Bellinger may have been the first to
suggest the existence of a mint at Veh-Ardashir in "A Note on the
Sasanian Mint monograms," Numismatic Review 3 (1946): 48, while
J. T. Milik argued for a mint for Adiabene in "A propos d'un atelier
monetaire d'Adiabene: Natounia," Revue Numismatique 4 (1962):
51-58. A.D.H. Bivar included a study of Sasanian mint-marks in "A
Sasanian Hoard from Hilla," Numismatic Chronicle (1963), pp. 157-
- R. Gobl has discussed several such theoretical issues concerning
the interpretation of Sasanian coins in "Der Sasanidische Miinzfund
von Seleukia (Veh-Ardaser) 1967," Mesopotamia 8-9 (1973-1974):
229-60. M. I. Mochiri's Etudes de numismatique Iranienne sous les
Sassanides (Teheran, 1972) speculates on the identification of several
mint-marks. Substantial disagreement still exists over the identification
of a significant number of mint-marks. For the time being it is probably
best to follow Gobl's suggestion (which was originally pointed out by
Herzfeld) that the abbreviations on coins are most likely to correspond
to the administrative jurisdictions which are written out fully in the
Pahlavi script in the Middle Persian language on contemporary Sa-
sanian administrative seals. Obviously the coins and administrative
seals need to be used together.
However, there is sufficient agreement on the identification of enough
mint-marks to justify drawing tentative conclusions about how far the
coins found in hoards and at archeological sites had traveled. At the
same time, we cannot assume that coins traveled in a straight line
from where they were struck to where they were found or that they
traveled no further. Sasanian coins are found together with Islamic
coins in hoards and at sites; the maximum difference in dates among
coins found together indicates that silver coins could circulate for a
century or more. So excavation coins and hoards provide suggestions
about the distance, direction, and length of circulation of coins. In
addition to the hoard from Hilla published by Bivar and the coins for
Veh-Ardashir published by Gobl, a hoard of coins struck in the twelfth
year of Khusraw 11 (602) has been published by P. J. Seaby in "A
'Year 12' Hoard of Khusrau 11, Sassanid King of Iran," Seaby's Coin
and Medal Bulletin (1971, no. 11), pp. 397-400, and W. B. Warden,
Jr. in "Supplementary Hoard of 'Year 12' Drachms of Xusro 11, Sas-
sanian King of Iran," Sea by's Coin and Medal Bulletin (1973, no. 2),
pp. 50-52. Excavation coins were published by J. Walker in "Some
Early Arab and Byzantine-Sassanian Coins from Susa," in Archaeo-