KINGS of PONTOS. Mithradates VI Eupator. Circa 120-63 BC. AV Stater (21.5mm, 8.28 g, 12h). First Mithradatic War issue. In the name and types of Lysimachos of Thrace. Tomis mint. Struck circa 88-86 BC. Good VF.

CNG Feature Auction 133
Lot: 240. Estimated: $ 1 500

Greek, 12h, Coin-in-Hand Video, Gold

Sold For $ 3 000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Go to Live

KINGS of PONTOS. Mithradates VI Eupator. Circa 120-63 BC. AV Stater (21.5mm, 8.28 g, 12h). First Mithradatic War issue. In the name and types of Lysimachos of Thrace. Tomis mint. Struck circa 88-86 BC. Diademed head of the deified Alexander right, with horn of Ammon; pellet to left / Athena Nikephoros seated left; ΘEM to inner left, TO on throne; in exergue, ornate trident left. Tachev 34 and 36 (O11/R23); De Luca dies D3/R12; Callataÿ p. 141, dies D4/R1; HGC 7, 1931. Trace deposits. Good VF.

Ex Bertolami E-Auction 105 (21 October 2021), lot 958.

Mithradates was a fascinating Hellenistic ruler at a time when Roman power was ascendent. His career, driven by megalomaniacal ambitions, led to murderous assaults upon family and followers alike and disastrous foreign adventures against superior forces. His portraiture attempts to mimic the gods with its bold staring gaze and unruly, free-flowing hair, but at its most extreme is a personification of hysteria in its Dionysiac sense.

At the age of 18, Mithradates overthrew his mother’s regency and embarked on a career of conquest, bringing most of the lands around the Black Sea into his domain. His expansionist aims inevitably brought him into conflict with Rome, and in preparation for the coming war he built up the largest army in Asia, unleashing it in 88 BC in what would be the First Mithradatic War. He sought to undermine the Roman power base by ordering the massacre of every Roman citizen in Asia, in which nearly 80,000 people perished.

The Romans were not intimidated, and when Mithradates crossed over to Greece proper as ‘Liberator,’ the Roman legions under Sulla smashed his army. Mithradates retreated to Pontus, from where he continued to skirmish with the Romans, suffering more defeats to the general Lucullus. In 63 BC, having suffered a final defeat by Pompey and facing a revolt by his own son Pharnakes, the elderly king tried to commit suicide by taking poison, but he had inured himself to its affects by years of small counterdoses, and so had to be stabbed to death by one of his mercenaries.

The final winners of all CNG Feature Auction 133 lots will be determined at the live online sale that will be held on 15-16 September 2026.

CNG Feature Auction 133 – Session One – Lot 1-308 will be held Tuesday morning, 15 September 2026 beginning at 9:00 AM ET.

Winning bids are subject to a 22.5% buyer's fee for bids placed on this website and 25% for all others.

We recognize that our users may have various Internet Browsers and Operating Systems. We like our visitors to have the best possible experience when using our bidding platform. However, we do recognize that it is impossible to develop applications that work identically, efficiently and effectively on all web browsers. The CNG bidding platform supports the latest stable major version and stable previous version of Chrome and Firefox.