Didrachm

Sinope was among the wealthiest Greek colonial cities on the Black Sea coast, controlling the lucrative trade routes between the Pontic interior and the Aegean world. The city's silver coinage was widely trusted across the region precisely because Paphlagonian access to Pontic silver kept the metal supply reliable and the weights consistent across generations of issue. By the early third century, Sinope had already resisted Persian interference and would later come under increasing Macedonian and then Pontic pressure before finally falling to Mithridates VI in 183 BC.