Tetrachalkon - Mithridates VI

Amisos operated as a semi-autonomous mint under Mithridates VI of Pontus, striking civic bronzes that served the king's expansionist ambitions across Asia Minor and the Black Sea littoral without bearing his name directly. Mithridates used such issues to project legitimacy through association with established Greek urban minting traditions rather than overt royal proclamation. The long date range reflects a reign of extraordinary duration — and turbulence — that ended only when Mithridates fled to the Crimea after his final defeat by Pompey, dying there in 63 BC under circumstances that remain disputed between suicide and assassination.