Amisos, a Greek foundation on the Black Sea coast of Pontus, was absorbed into Mithradates VI's kingdom and became one of his principal mint cities. These bronzes were struck through a period of almost continuous military crisis — the First through Third Mithridatic Wars — during which Mithradates twice lost his kingdom to Rome and twice reconquered it before his final flight to the Crimea in 66 BC.
The city briefly operated under the name Peiraieos during part of his reign, though the coinage itself circulated under shifting political realities. Sulla's sack of Amisos in 71 BC by Lucullus interrupted production entirely for a period.
Amisos, a Greek foundation on the Black Sea coast of Pontus, was absorbed into Mithradates VI's kingdom and became one of his principal mint cities. These bronzes were struck through a period of almost continuous military crisis — the First through Third Mithridatic Wars — during which Mithradates twice lost his kingdom to Rome and twice reconquered it before his final flight to the Crimea in 66 BC.
The city briefly operated under the name Peiraieos during part of his reign, though the coinage itself circulated under shifting political realities. Sulla's sack of Amisos in 71 BC by Lucullus interrupted production entirely for a period.