Two Extremely Rare Chersonesos Staters

CNG 84, Lot: 517. Estimate $30000. Sold for $32000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

TAURIC CHERSONESOS, Chersonesos. 25/4 BC – AD 134. AV Stater (20mm, 7.64 g, 6h). Dated CY 119 (AD 95). Diademed and draped bust left; scepter(?) before, XEPCO-(NE)ITωN around / Artemis advancing right, holding bow and arrow, preparing to cast spear; monogram to left, PI-Θ (date) across lower field. Anokhin, Khersonesa 248-9 var. (date & ethnic); Zograph pl. XXXVII, 13-5 var. (same); SNG BM Black Sea -. VF, toned. Extremely rare, fewer than 10 Chersonesos staters known for this period of coinage, none with this date.

From the Alex Shubs Collection.

The Tauric Chersonesos, located on the western coast of the Crimea, was founded circa 422 BC by colonists from Herakleia Pontika and Delion in Boeotia. The city quickly rose in stature through it's wine production, but also through its location, which was ideal for trade compared to the other cities in the Cimmerian Bosporos. In turn, as the city grew, Chersonesos established a colony at Karkinitis on the northwest coast of the Crimea. In the second century BC, the city became a target of Skythian raids, and it was forced to appeal to Mithridates VI of Pontus for protection. The Pontic king saved the city from the Skythians, but now incorporated Chersonesos into his own dominion. With the passing of Mithridates, the city became a part of the Kingdom of Bosporos, but finally regained its independence by declaration of the Romans in 36 BC.

Chersonesos began issuing coinage in the mid 4th century BC, and had a robust production that reflected the successful commercial center that it was. Its types are unusually diverse, depicting various gods and mythological creatures, but none of them seem to have been given particular significance over any other. Initially, the coinage was almost strictly bronze, with only a couple rare issues of silver. By the third century, however, a regular silver coinage began to be produced, comparable in size to that of the bronze. This coinage continued into the Roman period, though at a lower level of production after the 1st century BC. In the late 1st century AD, the city issued an unprecedented gold coinage. Even today, we cannot fully comprehend the purpose for this remarkable coinage. All of the coins feature the same types: a diademed and draped bust on the obverse (sometimes with the city ethnic), and the figure of Artemis on the reverse. These coins are also dated, probably a convention copied from the contemporary royal Bosporan coinage. Today, only a handful of these gold coins exist, with only six examples published (all in museum collections): Anokhin 215 (CY 71 [State Historical Museum, Moscow]); 216 (CY 73 [Berlin]); 228 (CY 104 [Hermitage]); 233 (CY 109 [BN]); 248 (CY 131 [Berlin]); and 249 (CY 158 [Odessa State Historical Museum]). The two coins in this sale thus represent a significant addition to our knowledge of this series.