Catalog
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| Issuer | Amastris (Bithynia and Pontus) |
|---|---|
| Year | 138-161 |
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| Composition | Bronze |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Greek |
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| Reverse description | Asclepius, the god of medicine, depicted standing and facing right, with his right hand resting on his hip and his left arm supporting the serpent-entwined staff (kerykeion of Asclepius) that serves as his principal divine attribute. The figure is rendered in a static, hieratic pose characteristic of provincial divine imagery. The ethnic legend ΑΜΑϹΤΡΙΑΝΩΝ curves around the type, identifying the issuing city of Amastris in Pontus. The overall design reflects the Hellenic religious and civic traditions maintained by Amastris under Roman Imperial rule. |
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| Additional information |
Amastris, a coastal polis on the Black Sea originally synoikized by the Macedonian dynast Dionysios from four smaller settlements around 300 BC, retained its civic identity through the Roman provincial period with unusual tenacity. Local bronze issues under Antoninus Pius reflect a city comfortable enough in its autonomy to maintain an active civic mint well into the second century, when many neighboring Pontic communities had effectively ceded coinage rights.
The reference IV.1#5382 places this within the Amastris series catalogued in the Recueil Général corpus.