Two Unique Chersonesos Staters

CNG 100, Lot: 59. Estimate $20000. Sold for $12000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

TAURIC CHERSONESOS, Chersonesos. Mid 1st-mid 2nd centuries AD. AV Stater (20mm, 7.64 g, 6h). Dated CY 119 (AD 95/6). Diademed and draped bust left; scepter(?) before, XEPCO-[NH]CEITωN around / Artemis advancing right, holding arrow and bow in left hand, preparing to cast spear held aloft in right hand; monogram to left, PI-Θ (date) across lower field. Anokhin 866 (this coin illustrated); Anokhin, Khersonesa 248-9 var. (date & ethnic); Zograph pl. XXXVII, 13-5 var. (same); SNG BM Black Sea –. VF, toned. Very rare late Chersonesos stater, unique with this date.

From the collection of Dr. Lawrence A. Adams. Ex Alex Shubs Collection (Classical Numismatic Group 84, 5 May 2010), lot 517.

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 its wine production, but also through its location, which was better situated 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, Chersonesos 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 most of them in public collections.