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Classical Numismatic Group > Electronic Auction 442Auction date: 17 April 2019
Lot number: 864

Lot description:


KINGS of BOSPORUS. Rhescuporis IV. Circa AD 242/3-276/7. BI Stater (20mm, 6.98 g, 12h). Dated BE 560 (AD 263/4). BACIΛЄωC PHCKOVΠOPIΔO, diademed and draped bust of Rhescuporis right; trident to right / Laureate and draped busts vis-à-vis of Valerian I and Gallienus; pellet between, ΞΦ (date) below. MacDonald 619/1; Frolova pp. 158-9 and plates XIII-XIV (dies unlisted); Anokhin 710a. VF, toned, red deposits, minor roughness.

Ex Classical Numismatic Review XVIII.1 (First Quarter, 1993), no. 348.

This coin demonstrates that Valerian I was still being acknowledged as emperor in Bosporus several years after his capture by the Sasanians.

The coinage of the Kingdom of Bosporus is a specialised field of study into which I have not ventured. The following four coins are included in this collection to illustrate the use of coinage to record the relationship of the Bosporan kings to the contemporary Roman emperors. Those who wish to learn more about Bosporan coinage are referred to the detailed publication by Frolova (1983). Suffice it here to say that the Bosporan king who reigned throughout the period of the Valerianic dynasty in Rome bore the name of Rheskuporis, numbered V by Frolova but IV elsewhere (e.g. Sear 1982). Another short-lived contemporary ruler was Pharsanzes, who may have been a co-ruler or a usurper.

Estimate: 100 USD