175, Lot: 120. Estimate $200. Sold for $250. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

PHOENICIA, Arados. Circa 138/7-44/3 BC. AR Tetradrachm (28mm, 15.29 g, 12h). Dated CY 173 (87/86 BC). Veiled, draped, and turreted bust of Tyche right / Nike advancing left, holding wreath and palm frond; in left field, GOP (date) above Phoenician “B” above MS; all within wreath. Duyrat 3447-59 (D64/R?); BMC 231; SNG Copenhagen -. VF, toned.

Brooks Levy has proposed the magistrate MS, who signed issues at Arados for almost 50 years between 114 and 67 BC, is actually the Pontic king Mithradates VI (120-63 BC). Mithradates, the perennial opponent of Rome, was acquiring ships and sailors at Phoenican ports for his Mediterranean fleet, and striking tetradrachms at Arados to pay for them. This form of abbreviation of a name, using the first and last letters, is often seen in the east. It is an intriguing theory, but as Duyrat notes, it seems improbable that Arados would risk the wrath of Rome by striking coins with the signature of its greatest foe. The political situation in Phoenicia at this time was very complex, and it is difficult to make conclusive judgments on events.