The First Coin of Moskon for 20+ Years

209.

Thracian Dynasts, Moskon AR Triobol. Getic mint in Northern Dobroudja, circa 4th - 2nd century BC. Diademed head to right / Rider on horseback to right, holding bridle; [ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ] above, ΜΟΣΚΩΝΟΣ below. S. Dimitrova, ‘Historiographic Observations on the Northern Thracian Βασιλεὺς Μοσκων’ in Orpheus 26-27 (2021), pp. 145-125, fig. 3; R. Ocheşeanu, ‘Monedele basileului Moskon aflate în colecţiile Muzeului de arheologie Constanţa’ In Pontica 3 (1970), pp. 125-128, figs. 3-4. 1.78g, 17mm, 12h.

Very Fine. Extremely Rare; seemingly the first coin of this dynast to be offered at auction in over twenty years.

From a private European collection.

Skythia

Only 1 Other Example in CoinArchives

300

Kings of Skythia, Ataias AR Siglos or Drachm. Persic Standard. Kallatis(?), circa 345-339 BC. Head of Artemis to right, bow and quiver over shoulder / King charging to left on horseback, shooting bow; ATAIA behind, Θ and [KAΛ] below. Draganov 2010, 6 (D7/R7); HGC 3.2, 1990 var. (control letter); Rauch 109, 70 (hammer: 4,200 EUR).

Extremely Fine; beautiful old cabinet tone. Extremely Rare; only one other example on CoinArchives. From a private Australasian Collection.

2,100

Ataias was a Skythian king in the time of Philip II of Macedonia, who towards the end of his life increasingly penetrated the Greek-Macedonian sphere of influence in the Balkans and in the early summer of 339 BC died in battle against the Macedonian king.

Kimmerian Bosporos

A Superb Diobol of the Sindoi

211.

Kimmerian Bosporos, Gorgippia as Sindikos Limen (or the Sindoi) AR Diobol. Circa 400 BC. Head of Herakles to right, wearing lion skin headdress / Head of horse to right, ΣΙΝΔΩ[Ν] above; all within shallow incuse square. Frolova, Kimmerischen Bosporos, Type II, 5; SNG Stancomb 632; SNG BM Black Sea 1008; MacDonald 80; HGC 7, 2. 1.42g, 15mm, 12h.

Extremely Fine; well-centered. Very Rare, and a superb example of the type.

Acquired from Leu Numismatik AG; Ex Pontos Euxeinos Collection, formed in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

1,200

Extremely Rare

212.

Kimmerian Bosporos, Phanagoria AR Drachm. Time of Mithradates VI Eupator of Pontos, circa 90-79 or 85-70 BC. Laureate head of Apollo to right / Filleted thyrsos; ΦΑΝΑΓΟ-ΡΙΤΩΝ around. SNG Stancomb 626; SNG BM Black Sea 998; MacDonald 173; HGC 7, 163. 3.47g, 16mm, 12h. Near Extremely Fine. Extremely Rare; just the fourth specimen of this variety to come to auction in the past decade.

Ex Pontos Euxeinos Collection, formed in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Leu Numismatik AG, Auction 10, 24 February 2021, lot 2123.

Armenia

Ex Gorny & Mosch 2011

214.

Kings of Armenia, Tigranes II ‘the Great’ AR Tetradrachm. Tigranokerta, circa 80-68 BC. Diademed and draped bust to right, wearing Armenian tiara with five peaks and emblazoned with star between two eagles; bead and reel border around / Tyche of Artaxata seated to right on rock pile, holding palm branch, river god Araxes swimming to right below; BAΣIΛEΩΣ to right, TIΓPANOY to left, monograms to inner right and on rock; all within wreath. Kovacs 71.2 (same obv. die); SCADA Group 3; CAA 20; ACV 34. 15.89g, 26mm, 2h.

Good Extremely Fine; beautiful old cabinet tone, with excellent surface conditions.

Ex J.T.B. Collection, Roma Numismatics Ltd., Auction XI, 7 April 2016, lot 472; Ex Gorny & Mosch Giessener Münzhandlung, Auction 200, 10 March 2011, lot 2017.

In an Exceptional State of Preservation

3,300

Kings of Armenia, Tigranes II ‘the Great’ AR Tetradrachm. Tigranokerta, circa 80-68 BC. Diademed and draped bust to right, wearing Armenian tiara with five peaks and emblazoned with star between two eagles; bead and reel border around / Tyche of Artaxata seated to right on rock pile, holding palm branch, river god Araxes swimming to right below; BAΣIΛEΩΣ to right, TIΓPANOY to left, AP monogram to inner right, ΔΗ monogram on rock; all within wreath. Kovacs 74.1; SCADA, Group 1; CAA 17. 15.85g, 26mm, 1h.

Good Extremely Fine; in an exceptional state of preservation with attractive light cabinet tone.

From a private European collection.

1,500

215.

Kings of Armenia, Tigranes II ‘the Great’ AR Tetradrachm. Tigranokerta, circa 80-68 BC. Diademed and draped bust to right, wearing Armenian tiara with five peaks and emblazoned with star between two eagles; bead and reel border around / Tyche of Artaxata seated to right on rock pile, holding palm branch, river god Araxes swimming to right below; BAΣIΛEΩΣ to right, TIΓPANO[Y] to left, Θ to inner right, ΔH monogram to lower left, all within wreath. Kovacs 74.2; SCADA Group 1; CAA 19; ACV 31. 15.83g, 27mm, 6h.

Extremely Fine; beautiful cabinet tone with hints of iridescence and a sharply struck reverse.

From a private European collection.

900

Kings of Armenia, Tigranes II ‘the Great’ AR Tetradrachm. Tigranokerta, circa 80-68 BC. Diademed and draped bust to right, wearing Armenian tiara with five peaks and emblazoned with star between two eagles; bead and reel border around / Tyche of Artaxata seated to right on rock pile, holding palm branch, river god Araxes swimming to right below; BAΣIΛEΩΣ to right, TIΓPANOY to left, Θ to inner right, ΔH monogram on rock; all within wreath. Kovacs 74.2; SCADA Group 1; CAA 19; ACV 31. 15.87g, 26mm, 1h.

Near Extremely Fine; attractive cabinet tone with blue iridescence around devices.

From a private European collection.

750

Kings of Armenia, Tigranes II ‘the Great’ AR Tetradrachm. Tigranokerta, circa 80-68 BC. Diademed and draped bust to right, wearing Armenian tiara with five peaks and emblazoned with star between two eagles; bead and reel border around / Tyche of Artaxata seated to right on rock pile, holding palm branch, river god Araxes swimming to right below; [B]AΣIΛE[ΩΣ] to right, TIΓPANOY to left, two monograms on rock; all within wreath. Kovacs 75.1; SCADA Group 8; CAA 21; ACV 33. 15.93g, 28mm, 1h.

Extremely Fine; unusually high metal quality with wonderful cabinet tone with iridescence around devices and underlying lustre.

From a private European collection.

1,500

Kings of Armenia, Tigranes the Younger AR Tetradrachm. Tigranokerta, circa 71 BC. Diademed and draped bust to right, wearing Armenian tiara with five peaks and emblazoned with comet; bead and reel border around / Tyche of Artaxata seated to right on rock pile, holding palm branch, river god Araxes swimming to right below; BAΣIΛEΩΣ to right, TIΓPANOY to left, ΣΩ in exergue. Kovacs 132; AC 28 (Tigranes II); CAA 10 (Tigranes II); M&D 51 (Tigranes II); CNG 112, 311. 16.81g, 31mm, 11h.

Near Extremely Fine. Exceedingly Rare; only one other example found on CoinArchives.

From a private European collection.

Tigranes the Younger, son of Tigranes II, became co-ruler with his father in 77/6 BC when he was just 20 years old. Kovacs notes that this issue, naming a ‘King Tigranes’ and displaying a bust wearing an Armenian tiara decorated with a comet should in fact be viewed as coins of this Tigranes the Younger, struck alongside corresponding issues of Tigranes II during their joint rule. It marks a period of relative harmony in their otherwise unstable relationship, and indeed the numismatic evidence shows that the following year Tigranes the Younger was in Damascus and Shayegan (2011) suggests that it was here that he plotted with his father-in-law Phraates III to overthrow his father. This plot was abandoned when Armenia faced a threat from Roman forces and father and son united against their common enemy. Tigranes the Younger did however go on to betray his father to Pompey the Great in the hope that this would secure him sole rule of Armenia. This proved ultimately unsuccessful since he was only granted the rule of Sophene and even this was only for a brief time, as Pompey removed him after a few months due to suspicions over his Parthian connections.

As the references for the present coin attest, Kovacs is the only scholar who attributes this coin to Tigranes the Younger rather than his father; other academics claim that no coins of this ruler were struck at all. In defending his attribution, Kovacs highlights the distinctive features of the son’s coinage as being characterised in particular by ‘younger portraits’, and a comet upon his tiara rather than the standard eagle-flanked star

Extremely Rare

Kings of Armenia Minor, Aristoboulos, with Salome, Æ 4 Chalkoi. Nicopolis-ad-Lycum, or Chalkis, dated RY 13 = AD 66/7. BACIΛEΩC APICTOBOVΛ[OV ET IΓ], diademed and draped bust of Aristoboulos to left / BACIΛICCHC CAΛOMHC, diademed and draped bust of Salome to left. Kovacs 300; RPC I 3840; TJC 365 corr. (date). 8.28g, 21mm, 12h.

Extremely Fine; date obscured on obverse. Extremely Rare.

Ex Roma Numismatics Ltd., Auction XXIII, 24 March 2022, lot 252.

Son of Herod of Chalkis and great-grandson of Herod I ‘the Great’, Aristoboulos hailed from the Herodian Dynasty of Roman vassal kings and in turn was granted the kingdom of Armenia Minor in AD 54 by the emperor Nero (Josephus ‘Antiquities’, XX.158). Though uncertain, his wife Salome is often identified as the young woman whom the New Testament relates danced for Herod the Great and, at the encouragement of her mother, received the severed head of John the Baptist in return (Matthew 14:1-12; Mark 6:14-29). The martyrdom by beheading of John the Baptist is a holy day observed by various Christian churches, and a theme often seen in art, sculpture, music and poetry.

A loyal client king of Rome, Aristoboulos supported the general Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo in the Roman-Parthian War of AD 58-63, receiving a portion of Greater Armenia as reward, and in AD 73 supplied troops to the governor of Syria, Lucius Caesennius Paetus, who had persuaded the new emperor Vespasian that Antiochos IV of Commagene was planning to revolt and side with Vologases I of Parthia. Aristoboulos’ decision to strike coins in only two years of his reign, years 13 (AD 66/7) and 17 (AD 70/1), as asserted by Kovacs, noted by Hendin (pg. 275), and proven by this dated issue is significant. The years AD 66 and AD 70 mark the beginning and end of the First Jewish-Roman War, as commemorated in the reverse of the present type which refers to Titus, whom Vespasian had left to suppress the revolt while he himself made his bid for imperial power. The two issues, struck at the beginning and end of the war, honouring first Nero and then Titus, probably therefore represent a public reaffirmation of Aristoboulos’ loyalty to his Roman patrons.

Also king of Chalkis from AD 57 until his death in 92, whereupon the region was absorbed into the Roman provincial territories, a mint location in Chalkis has been cited as a possibility for the production of Aristoboulos’ coinage, though traditionally it has been noted as ‘presumably’ being from Nicopolis-ad-Lycum, where a specimen was acquired by F. Cumont c. 1900. Given the close proximity of Chalkis to the war in Judaea and the notable similarity in appearance and fabric of these coins to those of Chalkis, a mint location in Chalkis cannot be discounted.

Kings of Armenia Minor, Aristoboulos, with Nero, Æ 8 Chalkoi. Nicopolis-ad-Lycum, or Chalkis, dated RY 13 = AD 66/7. BACIΛEΩC APICTOBOYΛOY ET IΓ, diademed and draped bust of Aristoboulos to left / NEPΩNI KΛAYΔIΩ KAIΣAPI ΣEBAΣTΩ ΓEPMANIKΩ in six lines within laurel wreath. Kovacs 299; RPC I 3839 corr. (year 8). 11.84g, 25mm, 12h.

Good Very Fine; unusually well-detailed for the type. Very Rare.

From a private UK collection.

Pontos

Exceedingly Rare

Pontos, uncertain mint (Amisos?) Æ 21mm. Late 1st century BC. Bare male head (Octavian or quaestor?) to left; Q below / Bare male head (Caesar?) to right; ΑΜΙ-ΣΟΥ across fields. RPC I 2156A; Naumann 88, 395 (same dies); Nomos 18, 288 (same dies, hammer: CHF 4,200). 7.59g, 20mm, 12h.

Good Very Fine; featuring two wonderful, enigmatic portraits. Exceedingly Rare; seemingly just the third known example of the type and arguably finer than the Nomos example that sold for CHF 4,200.

From a private European collection.

See P. Sánchez’s “Une émission monétaire inédite d’Amisos, ciuitas libera et foederata sous le Principat” (Revue Numismatique 178, 2021, 115-360, for the identification of the portraits as Octavian and Julius Caesar

Of Great Numismatic Interest

Pontos, ‘Areos’ Æ 15mm. Circa 88-65 BC. Male head (Perseus?) to right, wearing Phrygian-style helmet ending in griffin’s head / Humped Zebu bull butting to right on ground line; ΑΡΕΩΣ above, sunburst in right field. Unpublished in the standard references. 1.45g, 15mm, 12h. Extremely Fine; flan crack. Unique and unpublished, and of great numismatic interest.

Ex Roma Numismatics Ltd., Auction XXI, 24 March 2021, lot 161 (sold for £1,700 but buyer defaulted).

Areos can be translated from Greek as ‘of Ares’, and may have been applied to an unknown location or temporary camp in the Pontic area during the Mithridatic Wars of 88-63 BC. This would be similar to the appellation given in Athens to Πεδίον Άρεως (‘Field of Ares’), a term also present in Latin as the ‘Field of Mars’ , the military exercise area in the flood plain of the Tiber north of Rome. Alternatively, Areos may be an indication that this coin could have been issued by a mercenary band; the Mamertinoi in Sicily two centuries earlier had employed a similar legend “ΑΡΕΟΣ” on their coinage, also in conjunction with a bull reverse type. In either case, the issue was evidently extremely limited in size and must have served to fulfil only a localised or immediate expenditure.

The obverse type is usually referred to as the helmeted head of the hero Perseus, inspired by the coinage Philip V and Perseus of Macedon and employed by the most of the Pontic mints allied to Mithradates during the wars against Rome. The reverse type depicts a sacrificial humped bull or Zebu which can also be seen on the reverse on the bronze coinage of the same period at Pharnakeia, while the sunburst is one of the most common astrological symbols used by Mithradates VI on much of his coinage.

Kings of Pontos, Mithradates III AR Tetradrachm. Circa 200-185 BC. Diademed and draped bust to right / Zeus Aëtophoros seated to left, holding sceptre; ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ to right, MIΘPAΔATOY to left, eight-rayed star within crescent to inner left field, monogram above Λ to inner right field, monogram in exergue. Callataÿ, First, p. 68, fig. 12 (O3/R1) = Leu 81, 236 (same dies); Mattingly, Studies Price, pl. 56, 4 var. (monogram); SNG Black Sea 1024 var. (same); Kraay & Hirmer 769 var. (same); Jameson 2151 var. (monogram and no letter); HGC 7, 320. 16.12g, 30mm, 12h.

Extremely Fine; evenly toned, boasting an exceptional example of Pontic portraiture. Exceedingly Rare; one of only 3 examples offered at auction since 2001.

This excessively rare tetradrachm is attributed to Mithradates III, a mysterious Pontic king of whom we know startlingly little. His very existence is contested by some historians, though Appian refers to the later Mithradates VI as the eighth king of the dynasty and the sixth of the name, thus making Mithradates III’s reign necessary to complete the line of kings. Mithradates III is believed to have ruled during 220-185 BC and was therefore the father of Pharnakes I and Mithradates IV. The attribution of certain tetradrachms to this ruler remains disputed with evidence from the Latakia and Babylon hoards leading Harold Mattingly to conclude that they should actually be attributed to Mithradates IV (H. Mattingly, ‘The Coinage of Mithradates III, Pharnakes, and Mithradates IV of Pontos’ in Essays Price (London, 1998) p. 255). He argues that if the tetradrachms were struck by Mithradates III, their appearance in hoards dated to circa 160-150 BC would be highly unusual and a more plausible explanation is a reattribution to his son Mithradates IV, who ruled in circa 169-150 BC. However, the case for reattribution is undermined by the idiosyncratic portrait which differs greatly from those seen on other issues confidently attributed to Mithradates IV.

The wonderfully lifelike portraits of the Pontic kings are exceptional in their use of verisimilitude. When compared with other Hellenistic royal portraits on Ptolemaic or Seleukid coinage, which are often idealised, the Pontic portraits are remarkably realistic. The combination of this individualised portrait as a distinctly Pontic feature alongside the familiar Alexander III ‘The Great’ Zeus Aëtophoros reverse suggests that Mithradates III wanted to both distinguish himself as an individual ruler whilst also drawing on thoroughly Hellenistic imagery to legitimise his position and boost the acceptance of his coinage.

Kings of Pontos, Mithradates VI Eupator AR Tetradrachm. Dated Bithyno Pontic Era 222, month 9 = June 76/5 BC. Diademed head to right / Stag grazing on ground line to left; BAΣΙΛEΩΣ above, MIΘPAΔATOY EYΠATOPOΣ below, to left, star within crescent above monogram, BKΣ (year) and monogram to right, Θ (month) below; all within ivy wreath. De Callataÿ pl. X, D34/R8; BMC pl. IX, 1 (same dies); Gulbenkian 946 (same obv. die); DCA 692; HGC 7, 340. 16.40g, 34mm, 12h.

Good Extremely Fine; minor die shift to rev., wonderful old cabinet tone with an impressive portrait. Scarce.

From a private European collection.

3,000

The Hero Astakos

Bithynia, Astakos AR Hemidrachm. Circa 470 BC. Lobster to left, holding [tunny fish] in its claws; AΣ above / Archaic head of the nymph Olbia to left, diademed and with hair in sakkos, within shallow incuse square. RG p. 266, 6 and pl. xli, 6 (same dies) = Traité II, vol 2, 2871, pl. clxxxi, 6. 2.14g, 14mm, 6h.

Very Fine. Exceedingly Rare.

From the inventory of a UK dealer.

The hero Astakos was according to myth the son of Poseidon and the nymph Olbia, and the founder and eponym of the city of Astakos in Bithynia. During the reign of Nikomedes I, Nikomedia was founded nearby to replace Astakos, and the cult to the hero was moved to the new city.

Bithynia, Kios AR Tetradrachm. In the name and types of Lysimachos of Thrace. Circa 280-250 BC. Diademed head of the deified Alexander to right, with horn of Ammon / Athena Nikephoros seated to left, resting left arm on shield, transverse spear in background; BAΣIΛEΩΣ to right, ΛYΣIMAXOY crowned by Nike to left, club in outer left field, ΠΑ monogram in inner left field, bow in bowcase and ΔΙΟ monogram in exergue. Marinescu Issue 38, 135; Müller 410 (Erythrai); HGC 7, 555. 16.93g, 31mm, 11h.

Near Mint State; highly attractive old cabinet tone.

From a private UK collection.