SASANIAN KINGS. Shapur I, 240-272. Dinar (Gold, 22 mm, 7.46 g, 3 h), mint III (‘Hamadan?’). Diademed and draped bust of Shapur I to right, wearing mural crown with a great korymbos on top and long earflaps; long beard tied in the middle and thick tufts of curly hair at the back; two ribbons rising from behind head; two rows of pearls around the neck; around, ‘mzdysn bgy šhpwhry MRKAn MRKA ʾyrʾn MNW ctry MN yzdʾn’ = ‘mazdēsn bay Šābuhr šāhān šāh Ērān kē čihr az yaz(a)dān’ = ‘The Mazda-worshipping Lord, Shapur, King of Kings of the Iranians, whose essence is from the gods’ in Pahlavi). Rev. Zoroastrian fire altar flanked by two regal attendants wearing mural crowns and holding scepters; two pellets to the right of the altar shaft; in upper field to left, the symbol of ‘frawahr’, the guardian spirit of kingship and the emblem of the royal treasury; to right and left, ‘NWRA ZY – šhpwhry’ = ‘ādur ī Šābuhr’ (‘Fire of Shapur’ in Pahlavi). Göbl type I/1. SNS I, type IIc/1b, Style Q. A beautiful piece of lovely Hamadani style. Light doubling and with a scrape on the reverse, otherwise, extremely fine.