Catalog
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
| Issuer | Amisus (Bithynia and Pontus) |
|---|---|
| Year | 253 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 7.27 g |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Greek |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | A tall, upright thyrsus — the Bacchic staff symbolic of Dionysus — depicted in the centre of the field, adorned with fillets or ribbons tied around the shaft. The design is characteristic of Pontic civic bronze coinage associating the city of Amisus with the Dionysiac cult. The Greek date legend ΕΤΟΥϹ ϹΠΔ, corresponding to year 284 of the Pontic era (253 CE), appears in the field. The coin is heavily worn and encrusted, with the type only partially legible. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Amisus, a Greek colonial city on the Black Sea coast, maintained its own civic bronze coinage under Roman imperial authority well into the third century. The date formula ΕΤΟΥϹ ϹΠΔ places this piece in year 284 of the local Amisene era, correlating to 253 AD — the year Aemilian seized the purple from Trebonianus Gallus, only to be murdered by his own troops within three or four months. Coins naming Aemilian from civic mints are correspondingly rare by simple virtue of how little time there was to produce them.