Rare Hellenistic Portrait Drachm

Sale: Triton XIII, Lot: 169. Estimate $5000.  Closing Date: Monday, 4 January 2010.  Sold For $6000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

KINGS of PONTOS. Pharnakes III. Circa 200-169 BC. AR Drachm (4.11 g, 11h). Diademed and bearded head of Pharnakes right / BAΣIΛEΩΣ ΦAPNAKOY, male figure, wearing petasos, standing facing, cradling cornucopia and kerykeion in his left arm, and holding vine branch in his right hand; star-in-crescent (Pontic royal symbol) to upper left; to lower left, deer standing right, feeding on vine; monogram to right. Callataÿ, First, dies O5/R1; SNG Copenhagen -; SNG von Aulock 2 (same obv. die); Boston MFA 1353 = Pozzi 2090 (same dies); SNG BM 1026 (same rev. die); Jameson 2152 (same obv. die); Hirsch 1413 (same obv. die); SNG Berry 890 (same obv. die). Good VF, toned, a hint of porosity. Well centered on a broad flan. Splendid hellenistic portrait.

As noted by Mørkholm (EHC p. 175), the regal heads on the issues of the Kings of Pontos are among the most elegant and accomplished portraits of Hellenistic coinage. Certainly the product of Greek artists, they are of the finest style, almost too human in character, with a realism that is lacking in many of the idealized portraits found among contemporary royal issues of other kingdoms. The king in this issue has traditionally been labelled as Pharnakes I, but more recent literature has shown that he is actually the third Pontic king to hold that name. Pharnakes III ascended the throne after the death of his father, Mithridates III, circa 200 BC. Most of his reign was spent attempting to expand the borders of his realm, which, circa 181 BC, brought him into conflict with Eumenes II of Pergamon and Ariarathes IV of Cappadocia, who were allied with each other. Each side blamed the other for the aggression, and appealed to Rome to intervene on their respective side. Hostilities were temporarily halted after the arrival of a Roman delegation, but their failure to resolve the disputes led to renewed warfare. By 179 BC, however, it was clear that Pharnakes could no longer withstand the combined Pergamene and Cappadocian forces. In exchange for peace, Pharnakes gave up his possessions in Galatia and Paphlagonia, except for the important trading city of Sinope. Little else is known of his reign.