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!
Diobol - Parisades III Panticapaeum
| Issuer | Bosporan Kingdom (Bosporos) |
|---|---|
| Year | 165 BC - 155 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 1.07 g |
| 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 | Laureate head of Apollo facing right, rendered in the Hellenistic style characteristic of Pontic coinage. The hair is depicted in loose, flowing locks swept back beneath the laurel wreath, with fine engraving visible on the strands. The facial features — a straight nose, firm chin, and slightly parted lips — reflect the idealized divine portraiture common to Bosporan issues of the mid-second century BC. The flan is slightly irregular, as is typical of hammered silver coinage from this period and region. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | A thymiaterion (incense burner or censer) depicted facing, rendered schematically with a fluted or columnar shaft, a broad base, and a domed or stepped top from which the upper structure rises. The monogram or abbreviated legend ΠΑ (for Parisades) appears in the lower field, serving as the royal identifier. The design is set within the irregular flan with no border, consistent with the utilitarian engraving conventions of small-denomination Bosporan silver coinage. |
| 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 |
Parisades III ruled the Bosporan Kingdom during a period of increasing Sarmatian pressure on the steppe frontier, and the Pontic Greek cities under Bosporan control were already beginning the slow slide toward client-kingdom status that would culminate under Mithridates VI a century later. The diobol denomination in this series is notably scarce relative to the larger bronzes of the same reign, suggesting limited silver availability or a narrow window of production.