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Greek Coins :
Archive : Gold Stater Issued Under King Mithradates VI
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Gold Stater Issued Under King Mithradates VI - C.2265
Origin: Mediterranean
Circa: 88
BC
to 86
BC
Collection: Numismatics
Medium: Gold
Additional Information: SOLD
$2,700.00
Location: United States
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| Description |
Obverse: Portrait of Deified Alexander the Great
Reverse: Athena Seated Facing Left Holding Nike
Mithradates VI was the legendary king of Pontus,
a region in what is now northeastern Turkey. In
about 121 B.C., at the age of eleven, he
succeeded his father, Mithradates V, and began
his career of conquest by seizing Colchis and the
Crimea from the Scythians. His attempts to
cement his control in Paphlagonia and
Cappadocia were thwarted by Rome, and a plot
to depose Nicomedes III of Bithynia was
unsuccessful. Raids on Pontic territory in 88 B.C.
by Nicomedes, instigated by Rome, led to the
First Mithradatic War. Mithradates occupied the
Roman Province of Asia and most of the Greek
cities in Asia Minor, but during 86 and 85 he was
defeated in Asia and Greece by the Roman
generals Gaius Flavius Fimbria and Lucius
Cornelius Sulla. The Second Mithradatic War
began with a Roman invasion of Pontus in 83
that was repelled the next year. The Roman
design to annex Bithynia provoked the Third
Mithradatic War. Mithradates occupied Bithynia,
but in 73 B.C. his army was isolated and
destroyed by the Roman commander Lucius
Licinius Lucullus. In 66, Pompey the Great
succeeded to the Roman command and defeated
Mithradates, who had regained much of his
territory. Mithradates then devised a plan for the
invasion of Italy from the north, but his troops
deserted to his son, Pharnaces and Mithradates
soon committed suicide.
How many hands have touched a coin in your
pocket or purse? What eras and lands have the
coin traversed on its journey into our
possession? As we reach into our pockets to pull
out some change, we rarely hesitate to think of
who might have touched the coin before us, or
where the coin will venture to after it leaves our
hands. More than money, coins are a symbol of
the state that struck them, of a specific time and
location, whether contemporary currencies or
artifacts of a long forgotten empire. This
stunning hand-struck coin reveals an expertise
of craftsmanship and intricate sculptural detail
that is often lacking in contemporary machine-
made currencies. Like many leaders, Mithradates
adopted the imagery of Alexander the Great in
order to bolster his legitimacy as a ruler and to
appeal to the Greek citizenry residing in Asia
Minor. This magnificent coin is more than a
memorial to a leader; it is an artifact of a
kingdom passed from the hands of civilization to
civilization, from generation to generation.
- (C.2265)
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