Sale: CNG 66, Lot: 1018. Estimate $200.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 19 May 2004.  Sold For $350. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

KINGS of BOSPORUS. Aspurgus, with Tiberius. Circa 14-38 AD. Æ 12 Unit (8.31 gm). Struck 14-37 AD. Laureate head of Tiberius right / Diademed head of Aspurgus right; monogram and IB in fields. MacDonald 300; RPC I 1903; Anokhin 319. Good VF, green patina. ($200)

The Bosporan Kingdom

Located at the edge of the known world, the cities and kingdoms of the Cimmerian Bosporus provided a transit point between Greco-Roman culture and the tribes of the vast hinterlands of central Asia. Prosperous when ruled by strong leaders, the trading ports of the Bosporus suffered greatly during frequent incursions by the tribesmen of the steppes. The first dynasty to term themselves kings of the Bosporos were the Spartocids, who ruled the cities of the Crimean and Taman penninsulas from 438 to 110 BC. When their line died out, Mithradates VI incorporated their territory into his Pontic kingdom. The kingdom reemerged after the death of Mithradates in 63 BC, with his son, Pharnakes II, ruling in Bosporus. For the remainder of the first century BC, the region was wracked by dynastic conflicts exacerbated by shifting alliegences during Roman civil war. Finally, in 14 AD, Aspurgus became king and was accepted as the legitimate ruler by the Romans, founding the dynasty that would rule Bosporus for the next 300 years. The Bosporan kings struck coinage throughout this period, including gold staters struck bearing portraits of their respective Roman emperors. This coinage became increasing debased into the 3rd century, but was nonetheless one of the few issues of gold coins struck by a Roman client kingdom.

In a few months Classical Numismatic Group will be publishing An Introduction to the History and Coinage of the Kingdom of the Bosporus, by David MacDonald, the most comprehensive and up-to-date study of this kingdom in English.