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1/2 Stater - Lysimachos Kolchis imitation
| Issuer | Bastarnae Celto-Scythians |
|---|---|
| Year | 100 BC - 1 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Stater |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Stylized, heavily barbarized figure of Athena Nikephoros seated to the left, derived from the reverse type of the Lysimachos stater. A transverse spear is visible in the background. The letter N appears in the inner left field and the letter H below the throne, while a trident symbol is placed to the left in the exergue. The surrounding legend, originally reading BASILEOS LYSIMAXOU on the Hellenistic prototype, has been entirely degraded into a series of hash marks or strokes, reflecting the progressive abstraction typical of Celto-Scythian imitative coinage. |
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| Mintage | ND (100 BC - 1 BC) |
| Additional information |
The Bastarnae occupied a contested zone between the Carpathians and the Black Sea steppe, and their coinage reflects that position exactly — borrowing Lysimachean types that had already been in circulation for over two centuries by the time these imitations were struck. The prototype itself traded on Alexander's image long after both men were dead, a monetary fiction the tribes of the northern Pontic region found persistently useful for cross-cultural exchange.
Kolchis imitations of this type are notoriously difficult to attribute with precision, and the Bastarnae designation relies heavily on find-spot archaeology rather than any textual confirmation of tribal minting authority.