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Æ11 - Prusias I or II
| Issuer | Kings of Bithynia |
|---|---|
| Year | 230 BC - 149 BC |
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| Composition | Bronze |
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| Obverse description | Laureate head of Herakles facing to the right, rendered in a somewhat archaic Hellenistic style with characteristic lion-skin headdress framing the face. The portrait displays bold, somewhat coarse engraving typical of Bithynian bronze coinage of this period. The face shows prominent features with the lion's mane visible about the crown and sides of the head. The field is plain, with no visible legend or additional devices. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΠΡΟΥΣΙΟΥ (Translation: King Prusias) |
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| Additional information |
Bithynia's Prusian kings — two rulers sharing a name across nearly a century — present one of the more stubborn attribution problems in Hellenistic bronze coinage. Without secure die-links or stratified findspot data, distinguishing issues of Prusias I (c. 230–182 BC) from his son Prusias II (c. 182–149 BC) remains genuinely unresolved at this module and weight class. Prusias I is better known historically, having sheltered Hannibal after Zama until Roman pressure forced the Carthaginian general's suicide at Libyssa around 183 BC.