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Æ28 - Gallienus (sole reign) (C I F S AN CCCXXX)
| Issuer | Sinope (Bithynia and Pontus) |
|---|---|
| Year | 260-261 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | Bacchus, the god of wine, depicted standing to the left in a relaxed contrapposto stance, holding a long thyrsus — the fennel-staff tipped with a pine cone and entwined with ivy — in his left hand, while his right hand extends downward toward a panther at his feet, a standard Dionysiac attribute in Roman provincial coinage. The colonial legend, denoting the year 330 of the Pontic era of Sinope, is distributed around the figure in the field. The composition reflects the Hellenistic artistic tradition maintained at the Sinopean mint. |
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| Additional information |
Sinope, though long absorbed into the Roman provincial system, retained an unusually strong civic identity on its coinage well into the third century — the city's Greek colonial heritage from Miletus gave its magistrates a stubborn attachment to local dating systems. The era notation on this piece, year 330 of the Pontic era (beginning 297/6 BC), places it precisely in 260–261 AD, a moment when Gallienus was ruling alone following his father Valerian's capture by Shapur I at the Battle of Edessa.
That catastrophe — a reigning Roman emperor taken prisoner — sent shockwaves through provincial minting activity across the east.