GC Le monete più attraenti di Alessandro Magno

[apollonia]

Tetradramma Triton VIII (non cervo ma Pegaso).

KINGS of PONTOS. Mithradates VI. 120-63 BC. AR Tetradrachm (16.31 gm, 12h). Pergamon mint. Dated month 11 of 202 BE (August 95 BC). Diademed head right, hair neatly tucked under diadem / BASILEWS MIQRADATOU EUPATOROS, stag grazing left; star and crescent to left,  (year) and monogram to right, IA (month) in exergue; all within Dionysiac wreath of ivy and fruit. De Callataÿ pg. 11 (D21/R2); RG pg. 14; BMC Pontus pg. 44, 2; SNG Copenhagen 234 var. (month); SNG von Aulock -. Good VF, toned, slight die shift on obverse. ($2000)

 

[apollonia]

Tetradramma Triton VI (non Pegaso ma cervo).

KINGS of PONTOS. Mithradates VI. 120-63 BC. AR Tetradrachm (16.64 gm). Dated year 225 (73/72 BC). Diademed head of Mithradates right / BASILEWS MIQRADATOU EUPATOROS, Pegasos grazing left; star, crescent and monogram to left,  (date) to right; all within ivy wreath. De Callataÿ pg. 22, D67/R1?. Toned, good VF, obverse lightly double struck, some smoothing in fields. ($1500)

 

[apollonia]

Tetradramma Triton V, lotto 1398 (non Pegaso ma cervo).

PONTOS, Kings of. Mithradates VI. 120-63 BC. AR Tetradrachm (16.71 gm). Year 213 (85/84 BC). Diademed head of Mithradates right / BASILEWS above, MIQRADATOU EUPATOROS below, Pegasos grazing left; star, crescent and monogram left, GIS and monogram to right, A below; all within ivy wreath. De Callataÿ pg. 16 D5/R3 (this coin listed as specimen a). Superb EF, a few insignificant field marks, just a trace of double striking on the obverse. Exceptional. ($3000)

Ex Dieter Gorny Auktion 46 (30 October 1989), lot 197.

 

[apollonia]

Tetradramma Triton V, lotto 1399 (non Pegaso ma cervo).

PONTOS, Kings of. Mithradates VI. 120-63 BC. AR Tetradrachm (16.87 gm). Year 213 (85/84 BC). Diademed head of Mithradates right / BASILEWS above, MIQRADATOU EUPATOROS below, Pegasos grazing left; star, crescent and monogram left, GIS and monogram to right, A below; all within ivy wreath. De Callataÿ pg. 16 D5/R4 (this coin listed as specimen f); Hunterian 3 (same dies). Superb EF, perfectly centered, a scattering of insignificant marks. Exceptional. ($3000)

From the William N. Rudman Collection. Ex Edward J. Waddell Fixed Price List #68 (1996), lot 55; Ex Numismatik Lanz Auktion 74 (20 November 1995), lot 190; Busso Peus Auktion 326 (1-3 November 1989), lot 164; Busso Peus Auktion 323 (1-4 November 1988), lot 790.

 

[apollonia]

A seguito dei tetradrammi con il cervo scambiato per il Pegaso e viceversa, alcuni tetradrammi ‘giusti’ delle aste Nomos e Leu di questo mese.

Nomos AG   |   Auction 17   |   26 October 2018   Lot 149. Estimate: 24'000 CHF   |   Starting price: 19'200 CHF

KINGS OF PONTOS. Mithradates VI Eupator, circa 120-63 BC. Tetradrachm (Silver, 30 mm, 16.59 g, 2 h), Amaseia or Sinope, c. 115/114. Diademed head of Mithradates VI to right, shown as a young man with slightly unruly hair, a short beard on his cheeks and below his chin, and with his diadem ends fluttering behind him. Rev. ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ // ΜΙΘΡΑΔΑΤΟΥ/ [Ε]ΥΠΑΤΟΡΟΣ Pegasos standing left, his right leg bent upwards and his head bent down to graze; above Pegasos's head to left, eight-rayed star above crescent; below belly, monogram . De Callataÿ -, but see D2/R2 for a very similar die pair. HGC 7 -. Cf. Waddington 116 and Winterthur 2388 (same types but struck from different dies). Of the highest rarity, one of only four known coins of this type, and the only example not in a museum. Some traces of corrosion and minor marks, otherwise, good very fine.
From a European collection.

This coin is not only extremely rare, but it also bears one of the finest and most realistic portraits ever to have appeared on a Greek coin. Mithradates VI Eupator was born c. 135 BC and became king upon the assassination of his father, Mithradates V, in 120. He was, however, under the regency of his mother Laodike VI; because of his adamantly independent nature, and his mother's obvious preference for his younger brother Mithradates Chestos, Eupator felt increasingly threatened. Considering how prevalent murder by poison was in Hellenistic courts (Eupator's father was murdered by poison at a banquet), his fear was surely justified. So, along with a small number of his friends, who served as his loyal companions, he went into a self-imposed internal exile during which he traveled all around his kingdom. Living rough most of the time, surviving by hunting – though often staying in local palaces or lodges – Eupator also carefully visited and familiarized himself with all of the military units in his kingdom. After approximately five years he returned, disposed of both his mother and younger brother (though he gave them honorable funerals), and began his tumultuous reign. The tetradrachm and stater coinage of Mithradates VI has been ably studied by the distinguished Belgian scholar François de Callataÿ; he divided them into two main groups, an undated series, which he implied began c. 100 and a much more massive dated series (separated into less and more idealized portrait groups) beginning c. 96. However, Eupator was a very active campaigner who expanded his kingdom considerably in the years prior to 100, and the possibility that he had issued no coinage at all during that period seems unlikely in the extreme. In fact, those undated issues actually fall into a number of groups, which are not only stylistically discrete but chronologically as well. The present coin, and the other three known examples of this group, was issued at the time of Eupator's return to full power in c. 115. It differs from all of his remaining issues by having a powerfully realistic portrait of the young king (then about 20): he is shown with a light, straggly beard and traces of a mustache, somewhat unruly hair, and a determined expression. In addition, the reverse shows Pegasos feeding left with a harpa below, and with the inscriptions above and underneath the type. All but the very earliest remaining issues show him beardless and an increasingly idealized.

 

 

 

[apollonia]

Nomos AG   |   Auction 17   |   26 October 2018   Lot 150, Estimate: 5'500 CHF   |   Starting price: 4'400 CHF

KINGS OF PONTOS. Mithradates VI Eupator, circa 120-63 BC. Tetradrachm (Silver, 32 mm, 16.74 g, 12 h), Pergamum, year 3 = 86 BC (?). Diademed head of Mithradates VI to right, his hair flowing wildly. Rev. ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ // ΜΙΘΡΑΔΑΤΟΥ / ΕΥΠΑΤΟΡΟΣ Stag feeding to left; to left, star of eight rays within crescent; to right date Γ over monogram; all within ivy wreath. Callataÿ D1-R2 (?). A clear and attractive example, nicely centered. Some minor marks, otherwise, nearly extremely fine.

 

[apollonia]

Nomos AG   |   Auction 17   |   26 October 2018   Lot 151, Estimate: 5'000 CHF   |   Starting price: 4'000 CHF

KINGS OF PONTOS. Mithradates VI Eupator, circa 120-63 BC. Tetradrachm (Silver, 32 mm, 16.77 g, 12 h), Pergamum, year 212, 10th month = July 85 BC. Diademed head of Mithradates VI to right, his hair streaming out behind. Rev. ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ // ΜΙΘΡΑΔΑΤΟΥ / ΕΥΠΑΤΟΡΟΣ Stag feeding to left; to left, star within crescent over monogram; to right, date ΒΙΣ over monogram; below legend, month Ι; all within ivy wreath. De Callataÿ, Idealized Style, D2-R1. Clear, attractive and well-centered. Minor marks and scratches, otherwise, about extremely fine.

 

[apollonia]

Leu Numismatik   |   Auction 3   |   27 October 2018  Lot 83, Estimate: 2'000 CHF   |   Starting price: 1'600 CHF

An extremely rare tetradrachm of Mithradates VI Eupator
KINGS OF PONTOS. Mithradates VI Eupator, circa 120-63 BC. Tetradrachm (Silver, 29 mm, 16.79 g, 12 h), uncertain mint in Pontos, year 210 of the Bithyno-Pontic era, 10th month = July 87 BC. Diademed head of Mithradates VI to right. Rev. BAΣIΛEΩΣ - MIΘPAΔATOY / EYΠATOPOΣ Pegasus grazing left; to left, star-in-crescent (Pontic royal badge); to right, IΣ above monogram; in exergue, I; all within Dionysiac wreath of ivy and fruit. Callataÿ D64/R-. SNG Copenhagen -. Extremely rare, Callataÿ knew a single example. A beautifully toned and sharply struck piece of great historical interest. Extremely fine.


From the Argyros Collection.

This is the last tetradrachm issued by the principal mint of Pontos before it ceased to strike coins from August 87 to April 86 BC. De Callataÿ has noted that this time period strikingly matches the fierce siege of Athens and the Piraeus by Sulla in August 87-March 86 BC and the appearance of a Pontic branch mint dating its coins to the months August-February of a new era. All twelve known examples of this unusual series were struck from a single obverse die, with close stylistic similarities to the last coins from the principal Pontic mint. Since the only two published hoards containing such tetradrachms were found in Athens and the Piraeus, De Callataÿ conclude that the principal Pontic mint must have been relocated to Athens (or, more likely, the Piraeus) in July/August 87 to support the war efforts of Mithradates' general Archelaos, whose monogram possibly even appears on the reverse of its coins. When Athens fell on 1 March 86 BC, Archelaos evacuated the Piraeus, apparently taking with him the mint workers, as the principal mint of Pontos resumed its production of coins dated to the ordinary Bithyno-Pontic era in April 86 BC

 

[apollonia]

Leu Numismatik   |   Auction 3   |   27 October 2018  Lot 84, Estimate: 1'500 CHF   |   Starting price: 1'200 CHF

A beautiful portrait of Mithradates VI Eupator
KINGS OF PONTOS. Mithradates VI Eupator, circa 120-63 BC. Tetradrachm (Silver, 33 mm, 16.79 g, 11 h), Pergamon, year 224 of the Bithyno-Pontic era, 3rd month = December 74 BC. Diademed head of Mithradates VI to right. Rev. BAΣIΛEΩΣ - MIΘPAΔATOY / EYΠATOPOΣ Stag grazing left; to left, star-in-crescent (Pontic royal badge) above ΔΚΣ; to right, two monograms; in exergue, Γ; all within Dionysiac wreath of ivy and fruit. Callataÿ D61/R-. SNG Copenhagen 236. SNG Delepierre 2476. A beautiful piece with a bold late Hellenistic portrait. Thin flan crack and with some doubling on the reverse, otherwise, extremely fine.


From the Argyros Collection.

This impressive tetradrachm was struck in the first year of the Third Mithridatic War (74-63 BC), when the great adversary of Rome was already in his early sixties. The King's portraits on these late issues are very much in Hellenistic tradition as they portray a youthful, energetic ruler, strongly reminiscent of Alexander 'the Great', the role model of all Greek KingArticolo del Price su Mitridate

 In this article I hope to show that these series can act as a useful sheet- anchor for the chronology of other series; and in particular I want to establish some terminal date for the posthumous issues in the name of Alexander the Great at the mints of Odessus and Mesembria, and in the name of Lysimachus at Byzantium. The coins of Mithradates invariably bear his portrait on the obverse; and the reverse type is either a feeding Stag or a feeding Pegasus, the whole surrounded by a wreath of ivy leaves and bunches of grapes.

The realistic, at times almost veristic portrait of the Hellenistic [Pl. I. 3] gives way to a soft, idealized head [Pl. I. 4] ; which previously had followed the contours of the skull, an unkempt mass of flowing strands. Exactly the same to be noted in the silver coins between all those with reverse [Pl. I. 5] and all those with the Stag reverse with the exception of the drachma of year 202, so that appear concurrently from years 209 to 212 [Pl. I. 5-6, This extraordinary phenomenon will urge caution criteria for dating by style at this period; but it is here nificant, since the change coincides with Mithradates' Asia in year 209 (89/8 b.c.). It is not merely a change a change of mint. The tetradrachms change their reverse same time, the Pegasus (years 202-12) giving place (years 211-31), the latter continuing long after Mithradates pinned back within the borders of Pontus. The Pegasus derives from the legend of Perseus, mythical of the Persian kings from whom the Pontic kings claimed in which the Pegasus is born from the body of the slain astral symbols, star and crescent, which accompany types, are found on earlier Pontic coins,2 and probably the worship of Ma, one of the main cults of the region; encircling wreath is a direct copy of that on the cistophori The Stag, which appears first on drachmae of 96/5 gold, and then on the main dated series from 87/6 b.c., Pontic significance, and not only, as has been thought,3 to the liberation of Asia, and the great cult of Artemis It should be noted that a doe appears on the coins of accompanying a deity whose attributes show him to be Hermes, Dionysus, and Tyche.4 Perhaps this is a god generally to whom a stag could be as relevant as to the Greek Asia Minor. The Pegasus, being a reference to Mithradates' Persian ancestry, can hardly have been thought a suitable type for a monarch 'liberat- ing' the Greek cities of Asia Minor; but the stag, as well as having Pontic significance, must also recall the Greek goddess Artemis.

The change of type, at the very moment is clearly influenced by political of obverse is in the tradition political reasons again it may have should be altered. Mithradates is known to have taken the name Dionysus,1 probably as a reference to his maternal grandfather Antiochus VI Dionysus of Syria. It will, however, be remembered that this particular god, like Mithradates himself, was Eastern in origin, and had been adopted by the Greeks and placed among the Olympians. It is possible that Mithradates viewed himself in much the same way; and the soft, fleshy portrait which appears on his coins from 89/8 may be the representation of the king in his role as Dionysus,2 his regal diadem lost in the waving strands of hair.

 

[apollonia]

Ai miei bronzi di Mitridate VI Eupatore descritti in questa e in altre discussioni si aggiunge l’esemplare della Gorny & Mosch E-Auktion 259.

ASIATISCHER BOSPORUS. GORGIPPIA. Mithradates Eupator, ca. 108 - 63 v. Chr. AE Obol (16,52g). 79 - 65 v. Chr. Vs.: Kopf des Dionysos mit Efeukranz. Rs.: Köcher, l. ein Monogramm. MacDonald, Bosporus 180, Monogramm 18. Grüne Patina, ss

 

[apollonia]

Gorgippia è una città antica sulle rive settentrionali del Mar Nero (da Wikipedia).

Alla fine del secondo e nel primo venticinquennio del I sec. a. C. le popolazioni che abitavano in queste zone caddero più volte sotto il potere del re del Ponto Mitridate Eupatore. Dopo la sua rovina nel 63 a. C., sugli eventi di quella regione cominciò ad influire Roma che ebbe però maggior influenza su Chersoneso e su Olbia.

Mitridate adottò Dioniso come suo simbolo (e anche come nome), facendosi chiamare “nuovo Dioniso” (come il re tolemaico Tolomeo IV, 221-205 a. C.) e fece coniare monete con la raffigurazione del dio.

 

[apollonia]

Bronzo di Amìso già in collezione con Mitridate come giovane Dioniso sul diritto.

PONTOS, Amisos. Time of Mithradates VI Eupator. Circa 85-65 BC. Æ 21-23 mm (8.561 g). Wreathed head of Mithradates VI as young Dionysos wearing ivy wreath, right / ΑΜΙΣΟΥ Thyrsos leaning against cista mystica draped with panther’s skin; monogram to left and right. RG 24; SNG BM Black Sea 1202; HGC 7, 243. VF, brown green patina.

 

[apollonia]

Altro mio bronzo di tipologia Testa di Mitridate VI come giovane Dioniso/Cesta mistica.

PONTOS, Amisos. Time of Mithradates VI Eupator. Circa 85-65 BC. Æ 20mm (8.169 g). Wreathed head of Mithradates VI as young Dionysos right / Panther skin and thyrsos on cista mystica; monograms flanking. RG 24; SNG BM Black Sea 1209; HGC 7, 243; SNG Copenhagen 144. Good VF, dark brown surfaces.

 

 

[apollonia]

Altro bronzo del tempo di Mitridate che mi sono aggiudicato alla Gorny 259.

PONTUS. AMISOS. AE (13,27g). 85 - 65 v. Chr., Zeit des Mithradates VI. Vs.: Kopf des Perseus mit Greifenkopfhelm r. Rs.: ΑΜΙΣΟΥ, Pegasos n.l. trinkt an der Quelle Peirene, links Monogramm. SNG BM 1212ff. (Var.); Rec. gén. S. 55 Nr. 32; HGC 239. Dunkelbraune Patina, ss-vz
 

Sul diritto Perseo, l’eroe della mitologia greca figlio di Zeus e di Danae che viene ricordato soprattutto per l’uccisione della Gorgone Medusa.

Sul rovescio Pegaso, il più famoso dei cavalli alati che il mito vuole sia nato dal terreno bagnato dal sangue versato quando Perseo tagliò il collo di Medusa, che si abbevera alla fonte Pirene. E’ qui che, secondo un mito, fu domato da Bellerofonte grazie a una briglia d’oro donatagli da Atena.

 

[apollonia]

Fu grazie a Pegaso che Bellerofonte riuscì a uccidere la Chimera, soffocandola con del piombo fuso gettatole in gola.

Bellerofonte attacca la Chimera, dettaglio di un epinetron attico a figure rosse, ca. 425–420 a. C., Atene, Museo Archeologico Nazionale.

Da https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bellerofonte

 

La scena è riprodotta sul rovescio di questo bronzo di Corinto battuto alla Triton V.

CORINTH. C. Heius Pam and Q. Caecil Niger, Duovirs . 34-31 BC. Æ 23mm (5.62 gm). Head of Aphrodite right, wearing earring and necklace, hair gathered at back of head in a bun; CORINT below / [Q] CAECIL NIG[R] above, C. HEIO P[AM] before, II VIR in exergue, Bellerophon riding Pegasos right and hurling a spear at chimaera crouching below. Amandry pg. 136-138 (D4/R12 - this coin listed as specimen 2); RPC I 1128; SNG Copenhagen 200; BMC Corinth pg. 60, 496; Laffaille -. VF, dark green patina with some tan earthen encrustation. ($400)

Ex Numismatic Fine Arts Auction V (23-24 February 1978), lot 304; Knobloch Auction (1971), lot 284.

 

[apollonia]

Il mito di Perseo è ripreso su alcuni bronzi di Mirtridate VI della zecca di Amìso.

PONTOS, Amisos. Time of Mithradates VI Eupator. Circa 85 - 65 BC. Æ (27-29 mm, 18.91 g). Head of Athena Parthenos right, wearing crested helmet decorated with griffin / ΑΜΙΣΟΥ, Perseus standing facing, holding harpa in right hand, Medusa's head in left, Medusa's body at his feet; monograms to left and right. SNG BM 1166 (Var.); Rec. gén. S.64f. Nr.17.
Ex Sammlung G.S., Nürnberg, seit 1971.

 

[apollonia]

Sul diritto di questo esemplare (da Varesi) in collezione è raffigurata la testa frontale di Medusa al centro dell’egida.

PONTO, AMISO. AE (5,778 g, 19 mm) 85-65 a. C., tempo di Mitridate VI. D/ Egida decorata con al centro la testa frontale della Gorgone R/ AMI-SOY Nike con ramo di palma tra due monogrammi. SNG Cop. 167 (var.); SNG BM 1176 (var.); Rec. gén. S. 72. 44. Bellissima patina verde.

 

[apollonia]

Proviene dalla Gorny 259 questa imitazione di un bronzo di Amìso, che ho acquistato avendo già il prototipo.

BARBARISCHE IMITATIONEN GRIECHISCHER MÜNZEN. Nach Pontos, Amisos. AE (8,43g). ca. 100 - 85 v. Chr. Vs.: Büste des Ares mit böotischem Reiterhelm n. r. Rs.: Truglegende um Parazonium. Zum Vorbild vgl. HGC 7, 241. R! Dunkelgrüne Patina, ss

 

[apollonia]

Prototipo del bronzo del post precedente già in collezione (LAC 8).

PONTOS, Amisos. Time of Mithradates VI Eupator. Circa 85-65 BC. Æ (20 mm, 6.478.44 g). Helmeted head of Ares right / Sword in sheath. RG 29; SNG BM Black Sea 1148; SNG Stancomb 676. VF, black patina.

 

[apollonia]

Un altro acquisto dalla Gorny 259 è questo bronzo di Alessandro Magno della zecca di Tarso.

MAKEDONISCHE KÖNIGE. Alexander III. der Große, 336 - 323 v. Chr. AE (5,96g). 323 - 317 v. Chr. Mzst. Tarsos. Vs.: Kopf des jugendlichen Herakles im Löwenskalp n. r., im Feld davor Kerykeion. Rs: ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ, Keule l. über Bogen und Köcher, im Feld darüber Kerykeion, darunter Stern. Price 3061; Müller 175. Dunkle Patina, ss.

Sul rovescio, oltre alle armi di Eracle sopra e sotto il nome del sovrano, un caduceo in alto e una stella a otto punte in basso. Il tutto perfettamente centrato.

 

[apollonia]

Ho notato che alcuni esemplari del mio bronzo sono erroneamente attribuiti a Filippo III Arrideo, il fratellastro mentalmente labile di Alessandro, come si legge per esempio nella didascalia di questo CNG 415.

KINGS of MACEDON. Philip III Arrhidaios. 323-317 BC. Æ Unit (17.5mm, 5.82 g, 10h). In the name of Alexander III. Tarsos mint. Struck under Philotas or Philoxenos. Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin; kerykeion to right / Club above quiver-over-bow; kerykeion above, star below. Price 3061; Newell, Tarsos 46. Good VF, dark green patina.

From the Belgica Collection. Ex Helios 3 (29 April 2009), lot 38.

 

A scanso di equivoci, i bronzi di Filippo III Arrideo sono contraddistinti dal Price con la lettera P (per Philip III) prima del numero. Nel testo, il numero non è preceduto dall’iniziale P e quindi il bronzo in esame è inequivocabilmente attribuito ad Alessandro e non al fratellastro.

L’attribuzione è confermata anche dal Müller che lo classifica tra i bronzi del Grande col n. 175.

 

[apollonia]

Mio tetradramma dalla Gorny & Mosch 257.

MAKEDONISCHE KÖNIGE. Alexander III. der Große, 336 - 323 v. Chr. Tetradrachme (16,71g). ca. 323 - 317 v. Chr. Mzst. unbestimmt in Phönizien. Vs.: Kopf des Herakles mit Löwenfell n. r. Rs.: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ, Zeus mit Adler auf der R. nach l. thronend, l. im Feld AE (in Ligatur). Price 3565; Müller 1649; Meydancikkale Hoard 1970­72.
Tönung, Prüfhieb, ss-vz

 

La moneta fa parte della serie di tetradrammi di una zecca della Fenicia o della Siria non identificata, ai quali il Price ha attribuito i numeri da 3563 a 3573 per le emissioni tra circa il 323 e il 317 a. C. e i numeri da 3574 a 3577 per le emissioni tra circa il 317 e il 300 a. C.

Descriverò a seguire quelli battuti nelle aste internazionali reperibili in rete.

 

[apollonia]

Tetradramma Price 3565 (CNG 424).

KINGS of MACEDON. Philip III Arrhidaios. 323-317 BC. AR Tetradrachm (29mm, 16.73 g, 12h). In the name and types of Alexander III. Uncertain mint in Phoenicia or Syria. Struck under Laomedon. Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin / Zeus Aëtophoros seated left; monogram in left field. Price 3565. Near VF, toned, a little porosity, struck with worn obverse die. Rare, five noted by Price, two additional in Pella, six in CoinArchives.

From the Colin E. Pitchfork Collection. Ex Malter 79 (23 June 2001), lot 227 (part of).

 

[apollonia]

Il 24/10/2018 alle 12:32, apollonia dice:

Leu Numismatik   |   Auction 3   |   27 October 2018  Lot 84, Estimate: 1'500 CHF   |   Starting price: 1'200 CHF

A beautiful portrait of Mithradates VI Eupator
KINGS OF PONTOS. Mithradates VI Eupator, circa 120-63 BC. Tetradrachm (Silver, 33 mm, 16.79 g, 11 h), Pergamon, year 224 of the Bithyno-Pontic era, 3rd month = December 74 BC. Diademed head of Mithradates VI to right. Rev. BAΣIΛEΩΣ - MIΘPAΔATOY / EYΠATOPOΣ Stag grazing left; to left, star-in-crescent (Pontic royal badge) above ΔΚΣ; to right, two monograms; in exergue, Γ; all within Dionysiac wreath of ivy and fruit. Callataÿ D61/R-. SNG Copenhagen 236. SNG Delepierre 2476. A beautiful piece with a bold late Hellenistic portrait. Thin flan crack and with some doubling on the reverse, otherwise, extremely fine.


From the Argyros Collection.

This impressive tetradrachm was struck in the first year of the Third Mithridatic War (74-63 BC), when the great adversary of Rome was already in his early sixties. The King's portraits on these late issues are very much in Hellenistic tradition as they portray a youthful, energetic ruler, strongly reminiscent of Alexander 'the Great', the role model of all Greek KingArticolo del Price su Mitridate

 In this article I hope to show that these series can act as a useful sheet- anchor for the chronology of other series; and in particular I want to establish some terminal date for the posthumous issues in the name of Alexander the Great at the mints of Odessus and Mesembria, and in the name of Lysimachus at Byzantium. The coins of Mithradates invariably bear his portrait on the obverse; and the reverse type is either a feeding Stag or a feeding Pegasus, the whole surrounded by a wreath of ivy leaves and bunches of grapes.

The realistic, at times almost veristic portrait of the Hellenistic [Pl. I. 3] gives way to a soft, idealized head [Pl. I. 4] ; which previously had followed the contours of the skull, an unkempt mass of flowing strands. Exactly the same to be noted in the silver coins between all those with reverse [Pl. I. 5] and all those with the Stag reverse with the exception of the drachma of year 202, so that appear concurrently from years 209 to 212 [Pl. I. 5-6, This extraordinary phenomenon will urge caution criteria for dating by style at this period; but it is here nificant, since the change coincides with Mithradates' Asia in year 209 (89/8 b.c.). It is not merely a change a change of mint. The tetradrachms change their reverse same time, the Pegasus (years 202-12) giving place (years 211-31), the latter continuing long after Mithradates pinned back within the borders of Pontus. The Pegasus derives from the legend of Perseus, mythical of the Persian kings from whom the Pontic kings claimed in which the Pegasus is born from the body of the slain astral symbols, star and crescent, which accompany types, are found on earlier Pontic coins,2 and probably the worship of Ma, one of the main cults of the region; encircling wreath is a direct copy of that on the cistophori The Stag, which appears first on drachmae of 96/5 gold, and then on the main dated series from 87/6 b.c., Pontic significance, and not only, as has been thought,3 to the liberation of Asia, and the great cult of Artemis It should be noted that a doe appears on the coins of accompanying a deity whose attributes show him to be Hermes, Dionysus, and Tyche.4 Perhaps this is a god generally to whom a stag could be as relevant as to the Greek Asia Minor. The Pegasus, being a reference to Mithradates' Persian ancestry, can hardly have been thought a suitable type for a monarch 'liberat- ing' the Greek cities of Asia Minor; but the stag, as well as having Pontic significance, must also recall the Greek goddess Artemis.

The change of type, at the very moment is clearly influenced by political of obverse is in the tradition political reasons again it may have should be altered. Mithradates is known to have taken the name Dionysus,1 probably as a reference to his maternal grandfather Antiochus VI Dionysus of Syria. It will, however, be remembered that this particular god, like Mithradates himself, was Eastern in origin, and had been adopted by the Greeks and placed among the Olympians. It is possible that Mithradates viewed himself in much the same way; and the soft, fleshy portrait which appears on his coins from 89/8 may be the representation of the king in his role as Dionysus,2 his regal diadem lost in the waving strands of hair.

 

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Il 24/10/2018 alle 11:27, apollonia dice:

Leu Numismatik   |   Auction 3   |   27 October 2018  Lot 83, Estimate: 2'000 CHF   |   Starting price: 1'600 CHF

An extremely rare tetradrachm of Mithradates VI Eupator
KINGS OF PONTOS. Mithradates VI Eupator, circa 120-63 BC. Tetradrachm (Silver, 29 mm, 16.79 g, 12 h), uncertain mint in Pontos, year 210 of the Bithyno-Pontic era, 10th month = July 87 BC. Diademed head of Mithradates VI to right. Rev. BAΣIΛEΩΣ - MIΘPAΔATOY / EYΠATOPOΣ Pegasus grazing left; to left, star-in-crescent (Pontic royal badge); to right, IΣ above monogram; in exergue, I; all within Dionysiac wreath of ivy and fruit. Callataÿ D64/R-. SNG Copenhagen -. Extremely rare, Callataÿ knew a single example. A beautifully toned and sharply struck piece of great historical interest. Extremely fine.


From the Argyros Collection.

This is the last tetradrachm issued by the principal mint of Pontos before it ceased to strike coins from August 87 to April 86 BC. De Callataÿ has noted that this time period strikingly matches the fierce siege of Athens and the Piraeus by Sulla in August 87-March 86 BC and the appearance of a Pontic branch mint dating its coins to the months August-February of a new era. All twelve known examples of this unusual series were struck from a single obverse die, with close stylistic similarities to the last coins from the principal Pontic mint. Since the only two published hoards containing such tetradrachms were found in Athens and the Piraeus, De Callataÿ conclude that the principal Pontic mint must have been relocated to Athens (or, more likely, the Piraeus) in July/August 87 to support the war efforts of Mithradates' general Archelaos, whose monogram possibly even appears on the reverse of its coins. When Athens fell on 1 March 86 BC, Archelaos evacuated the Piraeus, apparently taking with him the mint workers, as the principal mint of Pontos resumed its production of coins dated to the ordinary Bithyno-Pontic era in April 86 BC

 

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