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Drachm Nymphaeum
| Issuer | Bosporan Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Year | 405 BC - 395 BC |
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| Orientation | Variable alignment ↺ |
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| Reverse description | A grapevine branch bearing a prominent cluster of grapes at the right and two vine leaves with tendrils occupying the central and lower fields, rendered in fine naturalistic relief typical of Greek civic coinage of the Black Sea region. Above the vine, the three-letter ethnic abbreviation NYN (for Nymphaeum) is prominently displayed in large archaic Greek characters across the upper field. The composition is boldly conceived, with the vine motif referencing the city's Dionysiac associations and viticultural prosperity. The design is contained within a shallow incuse square with slightly rounded corners. |
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| Reverse lettering | ΝΥΝ |
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| Additional information |
Nymphaeum was an Athenian-allied polis on the western Crimean coast that defected to the Spartans sometime around 405 BC — likely in the immediate aftermath of Aegospotami, when Athenian power collapsed almost overnight. The city's brief autonomous coinage, of which this drachm is part, probably ceased when Leucon I of the Bosporan Kingdom absorbed Nymphaeum into his expanding domain during the 390s BC.
The HGC 7 listing records this type as rare. MacDonald's earlier classification remains the standard reference for collectors working the Bosporan periphery.