72, Lot: 19. Estimate $750. Sold for $550. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

KINGS of PONTOS. Mithradates VI. 120-63 BC. AV Stater (19mm, 8.23 gm). Istros mint. Struck during the First Mithradatic War, 88-86 BC. Diademed head of the deified Alexander the Great right, wearing horn of Ammon / Athena seated left, holding Nike, left elbow resting on her shield, spear behind; DI above knee, IS on throne, trident in exergue. De Callataÿ pg. 139 (D1/R1); SNG Copenhagen (Thrace) 1094. Good VF.

The remarkably individualistic features of the portrait on this exceptional die are sometimes identified as Ariarathes IX, king of Cappadocia. Ariarathes was the son of Mithradates VI and joined his father in the invasion of Thrace in 88 BC, where he died two years later.