Drachma of the Sasanian Dynasty

Persian silver coins from the Sasanian Dynasty (ca. 224–650 CE) are called drachmas. These coins can often be easily dated since they carry information about the mint and the year of minting according to the reign of the ruler. In the region of Finland, only a few drachmas have been found in Åland. The hoards that contained the drachmas can be dated to ca. the 9th century and the drachmas themselves to ca. 559–625. They were struck by the rulers Khosrow I, Khosrow II or Hormizd IV.

The coin presented here is a drachma of Hormizd IV, struck in Kas Ahmadan in Persia (present-day Iran) in the fourth year of the ruler’s reign (582 CE). On the front of the coin is a portrait of the ruler, and the back face features the Zoroastrian holy fire, Atar, in the middle with priests on both sides. In addition, the name of the mint is mentioned on the right and the year of minting on the left.

The drachma was included in a hoard found in 1915 in Geta (Svedjelandet), Åland, which contained more than 100 coins. There were at least 14 drachmas and 93 Islamic dirhams in the hoard. The coins had been hidden sometime after 837.