Tetrachalkon - Asander Panticapaeum

Asander seized control of the Bosporan Kingdom by killing his own uncle Pharnaces II in 47 BC, then spent decades navigating the competing demands of Rome and the remnants of Pontic power. He adopted the title of king around 44 BC after initially governing as archon, a careful political hedge that bought him legitimacy on both fronts. Bronze issues of this period served the dense commercial traffic moving through Panticapaeum's grain markets, where Bosporan wheat fed much of Athens and later Rome's eastern provinces.