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Drachm - Mithridates VI Eupator Pergamon; ΒΣ
| Issuer | Kings of Pontos |
|---|---|
| Year | 202 (95 BC) |
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| Orientation | Variable alignment ↺ |
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| Reverse description | A stag grazing to the left occupies the central field, rendered in naturalistic style. The Greek legend BAΣIΛEΩΣ appears above and EYΠATOPOΣ below the main device, together reading 'of King Eupator.' To the left of the stag, a star-in-crescent symbol serves as a dynastic emblem of the Pontic royal house. In the exergue, the regnal year ΒΣ (year 202 of the Pontic era, corresponding to 95 BC) appears alongside a monogram. The entire design is encircled by a Dionysiac wreath composed of ivy leaves and fruit, alluding to Mithradates VI's claimed association with Dionysus. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Mithridates VI struck these civic-style drachms at Pergamon — formerly the capital of the Attalid kingdom and only recently absorbed into Rome's provincial system as Asia — almost certainly as part of his financial preparations for the First Mithridatic War, which would erupt in 89 BC. The choice of Pergamon as a mint was politically loaded: the city was the administrative heart of Roman Asia, and its later capture by Mithridates in 88 BC was accompanied by the massacre of tens of thousands of Italian residents in a single coordinated day of killing across the province.
The ΒΣ control mark places this piece within a documented sequence catalogued across the SNG France and von Aulock holdings.