(BC 220-200) Mithradates III - Drachm

Mithradates III, ca 220-196/5 BC. AR Drachm (3.96g, 12h). Amaseia or Sinope mint. Struck ca 200 BC. Diademed head right / BAΣIΛEΩΣ MIΘPAΔATOY, Zeus Aëtophoros seated left; to inner left field, star above crescent above monogram. Good VF, toned, granular surfaces, minor edge chips. Extremely rare, the finest of two known, the other in the BN.

Ex Münzen und Medaillen Deutschland 11 (11/2002), lot 676; Bayerische Vereinsbank Münzschätze FPL 11 (4/1976), no. 32.

With the exception of the coinage of Mithradates VI ‘the Great’, the coins of the earlier Pontic kings are very rare, and only a handful of drachms are known. As noted by Mørkholm in EHC, the portraits of these Pontic kings are among the most striking and lifelike in all of Greek royal portrait coinage. Unlike many other series, such as the Ptolemies and Seleukids, the portraits here are not idealized, portraying their subjects “warts and all.” Only some of the coins of the early Greco-Baktrian kings have such lovely die workmanship, but the character displayed in these Pontic portraits is unparalleled.