Over a thousand ancient coins of Greek and Roman origin have been assayed or analyzed, but only a few Parthian coins have been so investigated. It might reasonably be expected, however, that the chemical investigation of the coins of the Parthian Empire would lead to results just as interesting as those that have been obtained from the chemical investigation of the coins of other ancient states. Indeed, in view of our total lack of ancient literary information concerning the coins of this great eastern empire, it might be expected that the results of the chemical investigation of such coins would lead to results of relatively greater interest. Furthermore, since the coins constitute the chief, and almost the only certain, archaeological remains of the Parthian Empire, any information that can be obtained from a chemical study of these coins will not only be contribution to the obscure numismatic history of this empire but may be a contribution to its still more obscure economic history. This paper contains a summary of what little has been done in the past on this subject, the results of chemical analyses of some Parthian silver and bronze coins, and interpretations of some of these results.