The Sasanians produced the most artistically consistent and historically informative ancient coinage: thin, broad silver drachms with the king's crown on obverse and a Zoroastrian fire altar on reverse.
Sasanian coins are the silver drachms, rare gold dinars and copper of the last pre-Islamic Persian empire (224–651 CE): broad thin flans showing the king in a distinctive crown on the obverse and a fire altar with two attendants on the reverse, with Middle Persian (Pahlavi) legends and, from the sixth century, a mint signature and regnal date.
| Period | 224–651 CE |
|---|---|
| Standard coin | Silver drachm, ~4.0–4.2 g |
| Obverse | Crowned bust right, Pahlavi legend |
| Reverse | Fire altar with two attendants |
| Dating | Regnal year + mint abbreviation (from Kavad I onward) |
| Typical value | Common worn drachms are inexpensive; gold dinars are rare |
The defining Sasanian coin is the silver drachm. It is unusually wide and thin for an ancient silver piece — often 28–32 mm across but only about 4 g in weight — which is why edge splits and small chips are normal and not evidence of a fake.
The obverse always carries the king's bust to the right in a personal crown, surrounded by a Pahlavi legend that names him as the Mazda-worshipping divine king of kings. The reverse shows a Zoroastrian fire altar flanked by two attendants, sometimes with a small royal bust in the flames.
Gold dinars follow the same designs and are genuinely rare; copper and billon were struck for local use and survive in poorer condition.
Sasanian attribution is done by crown type before legend. Ardashir I wears a cap with a korymbos; Shapur I adds a crenellated mural crown; Bahram II appears with his queen and prince; Peroz I wears a double-winged crown; Kavad I and Khosrow I use winged crowns with distinct ornament; Khosrow II adds a double outer border with crescents and stars.
This system exists because the Pahlavi legend is often worn or off-flan. Learning six or seven crowns covers the great majority of coins on the market.
From Kavad I (488–531) the reverse carries a regnal year in the left field and an abbreviated mint signature in the right. Add the regnal year to the king's accession year to get a CE date — a Khosrow I drachm marked year 30 was struck in 560/561 CE.
Common mint abbreviations include WYHC (Veh-Ardashir, near Ctesiphon), BBA (the itinerant court mint), AW (Ahvaz), ST (Istakhr), AT (Adurbadagan), BYS (Bishapur), GD (Gay/Isfahan) and ML (Marw). Mint-and-year collecting is the reason this series is so popular: almost every coin can be placed to a year and a city.
Worn drachms of Khosrow I, Khosrow II and Peroz I are among the cheapest ancient silver available because they survive in tens of thousands. Premiums attach to early kings (Ardashir I, Shapur I), scarce mints, full unclipped flans with complete borders, and gold.
Cast counterfeits show a soft, grainy surface, rounded letter edges and a seam on the edge; struck fakes usually fail on weight or on a crown that does not match any published type. Because genuine coins are cheap, buying from a specialist dealer is the simplest protection.
After the Arab conquest the drachm did not disappear: Arab-Sasanian issues kept the same crowned bust and fire altar for decades, adding short Arabic phrases such as bismillah in the margin. The break comes with the reform of Abd al-Malik in 696–697 CE, when purely epigraphic Islamic dirhams replaced the imagery entirely.
Each king wore a unique crown — a numismatic fingerprint. Göbl's typology and Schindel's Sylloge Nummorum Sasanidarum remain canonical.
After Peroz I (459–484), drachms become dated by regnal year and mint signature (3-letter abbreviation), enabling fine chronological control.
Sasanian drachms continued to be imitated by Arab-Sasanian governors for 50+ years after the conquest.
Ardashir I (founder)
ObverseBust with korymbos crown; Pahlavi legend 'Mazda-worshipping divine Ardashir, King of Kings of Iran'.
ReverseFire altar without attendants.
Founder of the dynasty after defeating Artabanus IV.
Shapur I
ObverseMural crown with korymbos.
ReverseFire altar with two attendants.
Defeated three Roman emperors including Valerian (captured 260 CE).
Khosrow I
ObverseBust with elaborate winged crown.
ReverseFire altar with two attendants, regnal year and mint.
Currency reformer; standardised drachm weight and purity. Massive output.
Khosrow II
ObverseCrowned bust within double border, crescents and stars.
ReverseFire altar with attendants, year/mint.
Most common Sasanian coin; struck in huge quantities through 38-year reign.
Bahram V (Bahram Gur)
ObverseCrowned bust with crescents and stars; winged crown of Bahram V.
ReverseFire altar with two attendants.
Hero of Persian epic — celebrated in Ferdowsi's Shahnameh and Nezami's 'Haft Peykar'. Gold dinars are rare; eastern mints (Sind) supplied trade with India.
Peroz I
ObverseBust with third crown (wings + crescent + globe); legend names Peroz.
ReverseFire altar with attendants; mint signature and regnal year — first dated Sasanian drachms.
Peroz's wars against the Hephthalites bankrupted the empire and he was killed in battle in 484. From his reign onward, mint and year on Sasanian drachms enable precise dating.
Kavad I
ObverseBust with crescent-and-globe crown; Pahlavi legend.
ReverseFire altar with attendants, mint and regnal year.
Kavad's reforms paved the way for Khosrow I. His support for the radical Mazdakite movement marks one of the most dramatic episodes in late antique Iran.
Yazdegerd III (last Sasanian)
ObverseBeardless youthful bust, mural crown.
ReverseFire altar; YE (Yazdgerd Era) dating.
Killed at Merv. His coins continued posthumously into the Arab-Sasanian series.
Shapur I
ObverseCrowned bust of Shapur I right, wearing mural crown with korymbos and earring; Pahlavi legend 'Mazda-worshipping divine Shapur, King of Kings of Iran'.
ReverseFire altar flanked by two royal attendants.
Sasanian gold dinars were comparatively rare, used for diplomatic gifts and high-value trade with Rome and India. Shapur I's gold issues celebrate his triumphs over three Roman emperors — most famously the capture of Valerian in 260 CE.
Bahram II
ObverseFamily group: Bahram II with queen and crown-prince facing — uniquely dynastic for Sasanian coinage.
ReverseFire altar with two attendants.
Bahram II's coins are exceptional in Sasanian numismatics for showing the royal family together — a propaganda response to the religious challenge of Manichaeism, brutally suppressed under his predecessor Bahram I.
Shapur III
ObverseCrowned bust right with distinctive cap-and-globe crown; Pahlavi legend.
ReverseFire altar with attendants; mint signature.
Shapur III concluded the long partition of Armenia with Rome (387 CE), dividing it into Persian and Roman spheres. His gold issues are far rarer than the silver and were probably commemorative or diplomatic.
Bahram Chobin (usurper)
ObverseBust with crown of Bahram Chobin, regnal year 1 — a rare survival of a usurper's issue.
ReverseFire altar with attendants; Susa mint signature.
A Sasanian general from the Mihran clan who briefly seized the throne from Khosrow II — the only non-Sasanian to rule Iran between Ardashir I and the Arab conquest. Khosrow II recovered the throne with Byzantine help; Bahram Chobin's coins were struck for barely a year.