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Stater - Rhoemetalces Antoninus
| Issuer | Bosporan Kingdom (Bosporos) |
|---|---|
| Year | 151 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Stater (1) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
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| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Laureate head of the Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius facing right, rendered in fine hammered relief with clearly articulated laurel wreath and portrait features characteristic of Antonine imperial iconography. The field below the bust bears the Greek date inscription ΖΜΥ, denoting Bosporan year 447 (= 151 AD). The design is enclosed within a beaded border, reflecting the hybrid Graeco-Roman artistic tradition of the Bosporan coinage. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | ΖΜΥ (Translation: [year] 447) |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
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| Additional information |
Rhoemetalces ruled the Bosporan Kingdom as a client monarch under Roman oversight, and the pairing of his name with Antoninus Pius on this stater reflects the dependency precisely — the king's authority was legitimate only insofar as Rome endorsed it. The Bosporan gold stater series is unusual in that it persisted as a functioning gold coinage long after most of the Greek east had transitioned to Roman imperial denominations, sustained largely by the kingdom's role as Rome's grain-supply conduit from the northern Black Sea littoral.
By the mid-second century the stater's gold purity had already begun its slow, documented decline from the Augustan-era standard.