Greek: PONTIC KINGDOM. Mithradates VI Eupator (120-63 BC). AV stater (21mm, 8.32 gm, 11h). NGC MS 5/5 - 3/5, Fine Styl...
Description
Mint State Fine Style Mithradates Stag Stater
PONTIC KINGDOM. Mithradates VI Eupator (120-63 BC). AV stater
(21mm, 8.32 gm, 11h). NGC MS 5/5 - 3/5, Fine Style, edge bend, flan
flaw, marks. Dated Bithyno-Pontic year 209 (89/88 BC),
Pergamon. Diademed head of Mithradates right, with wind-blown hair
/ BAΣIΛEΩΣ / MIΘPAΔATOY / EYΠATOPOΣ, stag grazing left; star and
crescent to left, ΘΣ (date) above AX monogram to right, all within
ivy wreath. HGC 7, 333. SNG Black Sea 1028. Cf. SNG Copenhagen 233
(date). A gorgeous portrait on nicely centered flans.Mithradates VI "the Great" was the last Hellenistic ruler to challenge the might of Rome. His long and eventful career spanned a nearly 60-year-reign in which he was a constant thorn in the side of the Romans as they sought to consolidate their conquests. His gold coinage falls into two groups: A mass mintage of gold staters imitating the types of Lysimachus of Thrace from more than two centuries earlier, and a much smaller and more carefully produced issue of dated gold staters with his name and portrait. The imagery deliberately evokes the memory of Alexander the Great, depicting himself as a semi-divine conqueror with flowing, windswept hair. These rare and desirable coins represent the last great example of Hellenistic portraiture in gold, and as such are highly prized.
Estimate: $18,000 - $22,000.
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