1Now available is the fourth volume of the Sylloge Nummorum Sasanidarum series, an important numismatic study of Khusro I (531–579), arguably king of the Sasanian empire at its apex. This Sylloge catalogue augments the scholarly series and marks an important step forward in mapping Sasanian monetary history and its numismatic documents. It builds on the published volumes of the Sylloge Nummorum Sasanidarum publication project, now advanced through the reign of Khusro I.

2Schindel provides the first in-depth study of this king’s coinage, drawing from collections at the British Museum, Vienna’s Kunsthistorisches Museum and Institut für Numismatik, and the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. The 880 Khusro I coins in these cabinets were inadequate to represent the full range of issues so the authors have included circa 1200 additional coins from other institutional cabinets, trade and private collections. Published in traditional sylloge catalog format, Schindel improves on previous volumes by referencing individual coins by catalogue number in descriptive text. The source of every coin is documented and cross-referenced in the collections index.

3Although the main discussion is in German, Schindel provides excellent in-depth English and French summaries concerning technology, typologies, denominations and mints. The weighty two-part print volume is quite large, encompassing over 700 pages. Part 2, the catalogue, is structured and coded to be easily understood by any reader; it is organized according to mints, years of government, type combinations and descending weight. It is important to note that identical catalogue numbers are occasionally used, but distinguished with alphabetic prefixes and suffixes that are fully explained in the catalogue’s introduction.