Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
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!
Assarion - Tiberius Julius Mithridates Philogermanicus Philopatris Mithridates VIII of the Bosporan
| Issuer | Bosporan Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Year | 39-45 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Assarion (0.1) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| 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 | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | ΒΑCΙΛΕΩC ΜΙΘΡIΔΑΤΟΥ (Translation: King Mithridates) |
| Reverse description | Central device consisting of a bow in its case (gorytus) depicted vertically, flanked on the left by a Heraclean club resting against a lion's skin and on the right by a trident, all emblems of royal and divine authority traditionally associated with Bosporan dynastic iconography. The value mark IB (numeral 12) appears in the lower field of the reverse. A dotted border frames the composition, as visible in the image. |
| 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 |
Mithridates VIII ruled the Bosporan Kingdom as a client of Rome, but his reign ended in open rebellion against Claudius — a catastrophic miscalculation. By 45 AD, Roman forces and a rival claimant, his own brother Cotys I, had driven him from power. He held out briefly before surrendering and was sent to Rome in chains, where he survived as a prisoner rather than being executed, an unusual leniency Claudius apparently chose for political effect.
Coins of this reign are consequently rare by circumstance: a short, interrupted rule producing limited output before the mints changed hands to Cotys.