Catalog
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| Issuer | Heraclea Pontica (Bithynia and Pontus) |
|---|---|
| Year | 260-268 |
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| Composition | Bronze |
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| Reverse description | Heracles advancing to the left in a dynamic striding pose, the hero depicted nude or lightly draped, grasping the multi-headed Lernaean Hydra in one hand and raising his knotted club aloft in the other to deliver a blow. The figure is rendered in a robust, provincial style within a dotted border. The circular legend ΗΡΑΚΛΗΑϹ ΝΕΟΚΟΡ with the numeral Η (eight) denotes Heraclea's neocorate status. The reverse shows strong relief despite considerable surface wear and green patination. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Heraclea Pontica earned its neokorate status — the honorific right to maintain an imperial cult temple — through careful political maneuvering during the Severan period, and the city jealously advertised this distinction on its civic coinage. The eta (Η) in the legend denotes this as the city's eighth neokorate issue, a sequencing that reflects decades of accumulated imperial favor. Gallienus's sole reign, following his father Valerian's catastrophic capture by Shapur I in 260, saw provincial mints operating with unusual autonomy as central authority fractured under the pressures of the Crisis of the Third Century.