Bronze issue of Amisos in Pontus, dated to approximately 88–65 BC, was struck during the reign of Mithridates VI Eupator and in the period of the Mithridatic Wars fought against the Roman Republic.
Amisos, a Greek city on the southern coast of the Black Sea originally founded by Milesian colonists, is well attested in ancient sources, including Strabo.
The obverse depicts the head of Dionysos facing right. The cult of this god was closely connected with the royal ideology of Mithridates VI, who made frequent use of Dionysian symbolism in the representation of his power. The image of Dionysos appears on numerous coin issues of the Kingdom of Pontus in the 1st century BC.
Greece
Pontus, Amisos, AE ca. 88-65 BC
Obverse: head of Dionysos right
Reverse: cista mystica, HTPK monogram to left
AMIΣOY
Diameter 20 mm, weight 7.75 g
