Rare King

442, Lot: 867. Estimate $200. Sold for $120. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

KINGS of BOSPORUS. Pharsanzes. AD 253/4-254/5. BI Stater (20mm, 7.47 g, 12h). Dated BE 550 (AD 253/4). [BA]CIΛЄωC ΦAPCAN[ZOV], diademed bust of Pharzanes right / Diademed bust of emperor right; two pellets to right, NΦ (date) below. MacDonald 627/2; Frolova dies D/– and cf. plate XXV, 11-12 (for obv.); Anokhin 723a. Near VF, toned. Rare.

Ex Classical Numismatic Group XXXI (9 September 1994), lot 1232.

A rare king, known only through his coinage, Pharsanzes is a controversial ruler, whose short-lived reign fell during that of Rhescuporis IV. Whether he was an anti-Roman usurper, or a co-emperor of Rhescuporis (as both hypotheses have been suggested) remains unclear.