A Mithradatic Hoard of Tetradrachms from Tauric Chersonesus

 
PIIS032103910021095-7-1
DOI10.31857/S032103910021095-7
Publication type Article
Status Published
Authors
Affiliation:
Institute of Archaeology, Russian Academy of Sciences
Nosov Magnitogorsk State Technical University
Address: Russian Federation, Moscow
Journal nameVestnik drevnei istorii
EditionVolume 83 Issue 3
Pages606-619
Abstract

The paper is a publication of a Mithradatic hoard of 119 tetradrachms and drachms, found in the near chora of Tauric Chersonesus in 2013. It generally consists of the Mithradatic tetradrachms (79 coins) mixed with tetradrachms of the Bithynian kings, Nicomedes II and III (3 coins), late posthumous tetradrachms of Lysimachus struck at the mint of Byzantium (17 coins), and Athenian New Style tetradrachms (2 coins). Apart from 101 tetradrachms, the hoard includes 18 royal Cappadocian drachms: Ariarathes VII, Ariarathes VIΙI, Ariarathes IX, and Ariobarzanes Ι. The treasure includes tetradrachms of Mithradates VI with unrecorded dates. The latest of the drachms of Arioborzanes I dated back from 65/64 BC indicates that the hoard was formed after the arrival of Mithradates on the Bosporus and the flight of Machares, his son, to Chersonesus. More than a quarter of the Mithradatic tetradrachms are new coins of the last year of coinage, without traces of circulation, in a ‘mint state’, most struck from the same obverse dies or diecombinations in 67/66 BC. This fact certainly indicates the centralized issuance of silver money from the royal treasury. The hoard was most likely concealed during the anti-Mithradatic uprising in Chersonesus in 63 BC.

KeywordsTauric Chersonesus, Mithradates VI Eupator, Third Mithradatic War, coin hoard, tetradrachms
AcknowledgmentRussian Science Foundation, project no. 22-28-00057
Received20.07.2023
Publication date29.09.2023
Number of characters29595
Cite  
100 rub.
When subscribing to an article or issue, the user can download PDF, evaluate the publication or contact the author. Need to register.

Number of purchasers: 0, views: 150

Readers community rating: votes 0

1. Abramzon, M., Callataÿ, F. de. 2022. New varieties of Mithradates VI’ staters (dated ΓΚΣ ΙΒ and ΘΚΣ) found in excavations at Chersonesus and Panticapaeum. Revue belge de numismatique et de sigillographie 168 (forthcoming).

2. Abramzon, M., Kuznetsov, V. The Rebellion in Phanagoria in 63 BC (New Numismatic Evidence). Ancient Civilizations from Scythia to Siberia 17, 75–110.

3. Callataÿ F. de., 1997. L’histoire des guerres mithridatiques vue par les monnaies. (Numismatica Lovaniensia. Vol. 18). Louvain-la-Neuve.

4. Callataÿ, F. de. 2011. Quantifying Monetary Production in Greco-Roman Times: A General Frame. In F. de Callataÿ (ed.), Quantifying Monetary Supplies in Greco-Roman Times. Bari, 7–29.

5. Callataÿ, F. de. 2014. Revisiting a numismatic corpus: the case of Eupator, last king of Pontus, in K. Dörtlük, O. Tekin, R. Boyraz Seyan (eds.), Proceedings of the First International Congress of the Anatolian Monetary History and Numismatics, 25–28 February 2013 Antalya. Antalya, 117–137.

6. Callataÿ, F. de. 2015. The late Hellenistic didrachms of Leukas: another case of Greek coinage for the Roman army. In : P. van Alfen, G. Bransbourg, M. Amandry (eds.), FIDES. Contributions to Numismatics in Honor of Richard B. Witschonke. New York, 239–270.

7. Gavrilov, A.V. 2009. Coin Finds from the Kuru Baš Fortified Settlement and Some Questions Concerning the History of Theodosia in the Late 2nd and 1st Centuries BC. In: J.M. Hojte (ed.), Mithridates VI and the Pontic Kingdom. (Black Sea Studies. Vol. 9), 329–352.

8. Gavrilov, A.V. 2010. Numizmaticheskij material selischa Kuru Bash (lager') i nekotorye voprosy istorii Feodosii kontsa II – I v. do n.eh. Stratum plus 6, 141–157.

9. Nikolaenko, G.M., Smekalova, T.N., Terekhin, Eh.A., Voskresenskaya, E.N., Lebedinskij, V.V., Pasumanskij, A.E. 2022. Atlas blizhnej khory Khersonesa Tavricheskogo. T. II. (Arkheologicheskie atlasy Severnogo Prichernomor'ya». Vyp. 4). Sankt-Peterburg.

10. Novichenkova, N. 2013. Das Heiligtum am Pass Gurzufskoe Sedlo. In: S. Müller, V. Schmauder (hrsg.), Die Krim. Goldene Insel im Schwarzen Meer. Grieshen – Skythen – Goten. Bonn‒Darmstadt.

11. Novichenkova, N.G. 2015. Gornyj Krym: II v. do n.eh. – II v. n.eh. Po materialam svyatilischa u perevala Gurzufskoe Sedlo. Simferopol'.

12. Pakhomov, E.A. 1966. Monetnye klady Azerbajdzhana i drugikh respublik, krayov i oblastej Kavkaza. IX. Baku.

13. Reinach, S. 1892. Antiquités du Bosphore Cimmérien (1854): rééditées avec un commentaire nouveau et un index général des comptes rendus. Paris.

14. Simonetta, B. 1977. The Coins of the Cappadocian Kings. (Typos, II). Fribourg, 1977.

15. Stupko, M.V. 2019. K voprosu ob obraschenii pontijskoj monety v Yugo-Zapadnom Krymu v kontse II – pervoj polovine I vv. do n.eh. V sb.: N.A. Alekseenko (red.), «PriPONTijskij menyala: den'gi mestnogo rynka». VI Mezhdunarodnyj numizmaticheskij simpozium (Sevastopol', Balaklava 16–20.09.2019 g.). Materialy nauchnoj konferentsii. Simferopol', 125–130.

16. Thompson, M. 1961. The New Style Silver Coinage of Athens. Text and Plates. (Numismatic Studies, 10). Vol. 1–2. New York.

17. Turovskij, E.Ya. 2018. Monety antichnogo Khersonesa: katalog-opredelitel'. Sevastopol'.



Additional sources and materials

CH VIII – Wartenberg, U., Jessop Price, M., Gregor K.A. Coin Hoards. Vol. VIII. Greek Hoards. London, 1994

Classical Numismatic Group, Inc., Lancaster, PA. Mail Bid Sale, September 19, 2001

IGCH– Thompson, M., Mørkholm, O., Kraay, C.M. An Inventory of Greek Coin Hoards. New York, 1973

RG – Waddington, W.H., Babelon, E., Reinach, T. Recuil général des mannaies grecques d’Asie mineure. T. 1. F. 2. Paris, 1908

IV. New Jersey, 1987

Copenhagen, 2002

Система Orphus

Loading...
Up