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Home ▸ Catalog ▸ |Greek Coins| ▸ |Geographic - All Periods| ▸ |Anatolia| ▸ |Bithynia||View Options:  |  |  |   

Bithynia

The kingdom of Bithynia held a considerable place among the minor monarchies of Anatolia. The coins of the Bithynian kings depict their regal portraits in a highly accomplished Hellenistic style. Nicomedes IV, the last king of Bithynia, was defeated by Mithridates VI of Pontus, and, after being restored to his throne by the Roman Senate, bequeathed his kingdom by will to the Roman Republic in 74 B.C. Under Rome, the boundaries of Bithynia frequently varied and it was sometimes united with Pontus. For securing communications with the eastern provinces, the monumental Bridge across the river Sangarius was constructed around 562 AD. Troops frequently wintered at Nicomedia. The most important cities were Nicomedia, founded by Nicomedes, and Nicaea. The two had a long rivalry with one another over which city held the rank of capital. At a much earlier period the Greeks had established on the coast the colonies of Cius (modern Gemlik); Chalcedon (modern Kadiköy), at the entrance of the Bosporus, nearly opposite Byzantium (modern Istanbul) and Heraclea Pontica (modern Karadeniz Eregli), on the Euxine, about 190 km east of the Bosporus.

Hadrian, 11 August 117 - 10 July 138 A.D., Nicomedia, Bithynia

|Bithynia|, |Hadrian,| |11| |August| |117| |-| |10| |July| |138| |A.D.,| |Nicomedia,| |Bithynia||cistophoric| |tetradrachm|
"A cistophorus was a silver coin of about 12.5 grams which originated in Asia Minor about 200 BC and soon became the common currency there. Its name came from its obverse design, a 'cista mystica' or mystical chest used in worship of Dionysius (cistophorus means 'chest-bearer'). Roman governors first put their names on them about 58 BC, and Augustus began the imperial issuance from Asian mints about 27 BC (at about 12.0 grams and 27 mms), abandoning the 'cista mystica' design and promoting Imperial themes. Only Claudius, Titus, Domitian, Nerva, Trajan, and Hadrian issued cistophori after Augustus." - from Moneta Historical Research by Tom Schroer
SH25882. Silver cistophoric tetradrachm, Metcalf Type B1, 3 (dies 2/3); BMCRE III 1099 note; RSC II 240b, VF, weight 10.410 g, maximum diameter 27.3 mm, die axis 180o, Nicomedia (Izmit, Turkey) mint, obverse IMP CAES TRA HADRIANO AVG P P, laureate bust right; reverse COM - BIT, octastyle temple on podium of three steps, ROM S P AVG in entablature in pediment; ex Harlan Berk; SOLD


Herakleia Pontika, Bithynia, Tyrants Timotheus and Dionysios, 345 - 337 B.C.

|Bithynia|, |Herakleia| |Pontika,| |Bithynia,| |Tyrants| |Timotheus| |and| |Dionysios,| |345| |-| |337| |B.C.||stater|
SH26918. Silver stater, BMC Pontus p. 142, 22, Dewing 2151, EF, weight 9.705 g, maximum diameter 23.5 mm, die axis 0o, Herakleia Pontika mint, 345 - 337 B.C.; obverse head of Dionysos left, wreathed with ivy, thyrsos behind; reverse TIMOΘEOY ΔIONYΣIOY, Herakles standing left, wearing lion-skin over left arm and sword in sheath, attaching spear and shield to a trophy of captured arms; ex E. J. Waddell, superb specimen; SOLD


Kingdom of Bithynia, Nikomedes III Euergetes, 128 - 94 B.C.

|Kingdom| |of| |Bithynia|, |Kingdom| |of| |Bithynia,| |Nikomedes| |III| |Euergetes,| |128| |-| |94| |B.C.||tetradrachm|
SH18346. Silver tetradrachm, Rec Gen II.3 p. 230, 4 var.; BMC Pontus -, SNGvA -, EF, uncleaned, dark toning, weight 16.688 g, maximum diameter 34.7 mm, die axis 0o, Nikomedia (Izmit, Turkey) mint, c. 122 - 121 B.C.; obverse diademed head right; reverse BAΣIΛEΩΣ EΠIΦANOYΣ NIKOMHΔOY, Zeus standing left, wreath in right hand, scepter in left, in inner left field eagle on thunderbolt over monogram and ZOP (year 177); SOLD


Kingdom of Bithynia, Nikomedes III Euergetes, 128 - 94 B.C.

|Kingdom| |of| |Bithynia|, |Kingdom| |of| |Bithynia,| |Nikomedes| |III| |Euergetes,| |128| |-| |94| |B.C.||tetradrachm|
Nikomedes III aided Marius during the Cimbrian War, about 103 B.C. During the later part of his reign he struggled with Mithradates, King of Pontus, for control over Cappadocia. This led to Roman intervention and the Mithradatic War.
SH10959. Silver tetradrachm, SGCV II 7274; BMC Pontus p. 214, 12v; SNGvA 263v; SNG Cop 648v; De Callatay p. 56, D73/R1, VF, weight 16.21 g, maximum diameter 33.0 mm, die axis 0o, Nikomedia (Izmit, Turkey) mint, 112 - 111 B.C.; obverse diademed head right; reverse BAΣIΛEΩΣ EΠIΦANOYΣ NIKOMHΔOY, Zeus standing left, wreath in right hand, scepter in left, in inner left field eagle on thunderbolt over monogram and IΠP (year 187); SOLD


Kingdom of Bithynia, Nikomedes II Epiphanes, 149 - 128 B.C.

|Kingdom| |of| |Bithynia|, |Kingdom| |of| |Bithynia,| |Nikomedes| |II| |Epiphanes,| |149| |-| |128| |B.C.||tetradrachm|
Nikomedes II accompanied his father, Prusias II, to Rome in 167 B.C., where he was brought up under the care of the Senate. His father, favoring a younger sibling for succession, decided to assassinate him. But Nikomedes discovered the plot, seized the throne and put his father to death. He remained faithful to Rome, assisting in the war with Attalus, king of Pergamus in 131 B.C.
SH18363. Silver tetradrachm, Rec Gen II.3 p. 229, 1; BMC Pontus -, SNGvA -, Choice gVF+, weight 16.723 g, maximum diameter 39.5 mm, die axis 0o, Nikomedia (Izmit, Turkey) mint, c. 147 - 146 B.C.; obverse diademed head right; reverse BAΣIΛEΩΣ EΠIΦANOYΣ NIKOMHΔOY, Zeus standing left, wreath in right hand, scepter in left, in inner left field eagle on thunderbolt over monogram and BNP (year 152); dark toning; SOLD


Kingdom of Bithynia, Nicomedes IV Philopator, 94 - 74 B.C.

|Kingdom| |of| |Bithynia|, |Kingdom| |of| |Bithynia,| |Nicomedes| |IV| |Philopator,| |94| |-| |74| |B.C.||tetradrachm|
In 88 B.C., Mithradates destroyed Nikomedes' army forcing him to flee to Italy. His throne was not restored until Rome defeated Mithradates in 84 B.C. Waddington, Recueil General, pp. 217-8, notes, "it is difficult to explain the very rare coins that bear the dates IC, AIC, BIC. These dates correspond to 89/8 to 87/6 BC..; but between mid-88 and the end of 83, the whole of Bithynia was in the hands of Mithradates Eupator. We are forced to conjecture (no text says so) that during this period several fortified places in Bithynia remained faithful to the legitimate king and continued to strike coins in his name."
SH14034. Silver tetradrachm, SGCV II 7276; BMC Pontus, p. 213, 6 var.; SNG Cop 651 var., SNGvA 266 var., aEF, weight 15.539 g, maximum diameter 36.1 mm, die axis 0o, Nikomedia (Izmit, Turkey) mint, 87 - 86 B.C.; obverse diademed head of Nicomedes right; reverse BAΣIΛEΩΣ EΠIΦANOYΣ NIKOMHΔOY, Zeus standing left, wreath in right hand, scepter in left, in inner left field eagle on thunderbolt over monogram and date BIΣ (year 212); very rare; SOLD


Kingdom of Bithynia, Nikomedes II Epiphanes, 149 - 128 B.C.

|Kingdom| |of| |Bithynia|, |Kingdom| |of| |Bithynia,| |Nikomedes| |II| |Epiphanes,| |149| |-| |128| |B.C.||tetradrachm|
Nikomedes II accompanied his father, Prusias II, to Rome in 167 B.C., where he was brought up under the care of the Senate. His father, favoring a younger sibling for succession, decided to assassinate him. But Nikomedes discovered the plot, seized the throne and put his father to death. He remained faithful to Rome, assisting in the war with Attalus, king of Pergamus in 131 B.C.
SH18362. Silver tetradrachm, Rec Gen II.3 pl. 32, 9; BMC Pontus -, SNGvA -, Choice gVF+, weight 16.717 g, maximum diameter 37.4 mm, die axis 0o, Nikomedia (Izmit, Turkey) mint, c. 140 - 139 B.C.; obverse diademed head right; reverse BAΣIΛEΩΣ EΠIΦANOYΣ NIKOMHΔOY, Zeus standing left, wreath in right hand, scepter in left, in inner left field eagle on thunderbolt over monogram and ΘNP (year 159); SOLD


Julius Caesar, Imperator and Dictator, October 49 - 15 March 44 B.C., Nicaea, Bithynia

|Bithynia|, |Julius| |Caesar,| |Imperator| |and| |Dictator,| |October| |49| |-| |15| |March| |44| |B.C.,| |Nicaea,| |Bithynia||AE| |22|
Minted in Nicaea in 47 - 46 B.C., this was the first coin type to feature Julius Caesar's portrait. It was struck by the proconsul Gaius Vibius Pansa, who had been part of the Caesarian faction at Rome, and who probably owed his proconsulship to his patron. During Caesar's lifetime, only three provincial mints struck coins with his portrait: Nicaea, Bithynia; Lampsacus, Mysia; and Corinth, Greece. The first coins struck in Rome with a portrait of Caesar were denarii minted by M. Mettius in January 44 B.C.
GB71357. Bronze AE 22, RPC I 2026; Rec Gen I.2, 11; BMC Pontus p. 153, 8; SNGvA 535; SNG Cop -, aF, grainy, porous, weight 6.976 g, maximum diameter 22.2 mm, die axis 0o, Nicaea (Iznik, Turkey) mint, Gaius Vibius Pansa, proconsul, 47 - 46 B.C.; obverse NIKAIEΩN, bare head of Julius Caesar right; reverse EΠI ΓAIOY OYIBIOY ΠANΣA, Nike advancing right, raising wreath in extended right hand, palm frond over shoulder in left, monograms inner right and lower left, CΛΣ (year 236) in exergue; rare; SOLD


Kingdom of Bithynia, Nikomedes II Epiphanes, 149 - 128 B.C.

|Kingdom| |of| |Bithynia|, |Kingdom| |of| |Bithynia,| |Nikomedes| |II| |Epiphanes,| |149| |-| |128| |B.C.||tetradrachm|
Nikomedes II accompanied his father, Prusias II, to Rome in 167 B.C., where he was brought up under the care of the Senate. His father, favoring a younger sibling for succession, decided to assassinate him. But Nikomedes discovered the plot, seized the throne and put his father to death. He remained faithful to Rome, assisting in the war with Attalus, king of Pergamus in 131 B.C.
SH18364. Silver tetradrachm, Rec Gen II.3 p. 229, 4; BMC Pontus -, SNGvA -, Choice gVF, weight 16.608 g, maximum diameter 36.3 mm, die axis 0o, Nikomedia (Izmit, Turkey) mint, c. 141 - 140 B.C.; obverse diademed head right; reverse BAΣIΛEΩΣ EΠIΦANOYΣ NIKOMHΔOY, Zeus standing left, wreath in right hand, scepter in left, in inner left field eagle on thunderbolt over monogram and HNP (year 158); SOLD


Heraklia, Bithynia, 345 - 337 B.C.

|Bithynia|, |Heraklia,| |Bithynia,| |345| |-| |337| |B.C.||stater|
Heraclea Pontica (today Karadeniz Eregli, on the Black Sea in Turkey) was founded at the mouth of the river Lycus by the Greek city-state of Megara. It was named after Herakles whom the Greeks believed entered the underworld at a cave nearby. From the middle of the 5th Century B.C., the city became important in the Black Sea trade, and its economic heyday was the 4th Century B.C. The prosperity of the city, damaged by the Galatians and the Bithynians, was utterly destroyed in the Mithridatic Wars.
SH56929. Silver stater, SNG BM 1607 (same dies), Rec Gen I.2 35, VF, weight 9.630 g, maximum diameter 21.0 mm, die axis 0o, Heraklia mint, 345 - 337 B.C.; obverse head of Dionysos left wearing ivy wreath, thyrsos over shoulder; reverse TIMOΘEOY ΔIONYΣIOY, Herakles standing left, nude but for lion's skin over shoulder, erecting trophy of captured arms, his club leaning on the trophy, ram's head left between his legs; ex CNG auction XXVII, 29 Sep 93, lot 548; ex Superior Galleries auction 6 & 7 Dec 1991, lot 429; rare; SOLD




  




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REFERENCES

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