Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
Tetrachalkon - Mithridates VI barbaric imitation
| Issuer | Amisos |
|---|---|
| Year | 85 BC - 65 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Facing gorgoneion depicted full face at center of an aegis, its scaly surface rendered with radiating pointed scales extending to the coin's periphery. The Gorgon's visage displays a crudely rendered frontal face with large staring eyes, broad nose, and open mouth, characteristic of the barbaric imitation style. The surrounding aegis scales are boldly incised, lending the design a strongly stylized, almost abstract quality. The overall execution reflects the debased engraving technique associated with unofficial or peripheral workshop production during the late Pontic period. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Greek |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Amisos, the old Greek colony on the Pontic coast, fell firmly within Mithridates VI's sphere by the late second century BC — he refounded it as a royal city and used its mint extensively for his propaganda coinage. These imitative bronzes emerged as that official production broke down, likely during or after Lucullus's campaigns of the 70s BC, when Roman pressure shattered Pontic administrative control and local workshops filled the gap with increasingly loose copies of the royal types.
The barbaric character of these pieces varies considerably across the SNG BM range, and some specialists regard the series as ongoing into the post-Mithridatic period under early Pontic client arrangements.