Obolos 17

ARMENIA MINOR. Mithradates, as Satrap, 212-? BC. Tetrachalkon (Bronze, 17 mm, 6.27 g, 8 h), or, perhaps, struck by Mithradates I Ktistes of Pontos, 281-266, uncertain mint. mtrdt (Aramaic, but here either missing or off the flan) Bearded head of Mithradates to left, wearing bashlyk. Rev. mtr-dt (Aramaic) Bee flying upwards. ACV -. CAA -. Kovacs 295 var. (with an obverse inscription apparently lacking here). Extremely rare. Dark green patina. Very fine.

Kovacs ascribed this extremely rare and curious coin to Armenia Minor under the rule of a nephew of Antiochos III who had been appointed satrap there. He believed this was possibly correct because of the bashlyk the nephew wears, which he viewed as being more appropriate to a satrap than to a king, and also because of the use of Aramaic, which he saw as a parallel to the relatively contemporary use in Parthia by Arsakes I and in Armenia Major by Artaxias, all initially satraps rather than kings. However, W. Müseler had previously identified this type as being a coin of the Persian nobleman Mithradates (III) of Kios, who fled into the wilds of Paphlagonia in 302, following the execution of his father Mithradates II by Antigonos I Monophthalmos. Interestingly enough, the nephew had been warned by Antigonos' son, Demetrios I Poliorketes! He then managed to consolidate his control over the area until becoming king Mithradates I Ktistes of Pontos in 281. In this case, the use of an Aramaic legend on coins would be paralleled by its use on the issues of Ariarathes I of Cappadocia, who ruled the area first as satrap c. 350-c. 331, and then as king from 331 until his crucifixion by the regent Perdikkas in 322. Some support for Müseler's attribution comes from the bee reverse type, which has a number of parallels in the fourth and third centuries, but few in the late third and second. While we have chosen to follow Kovacs' attribution, Müseler's seems the more likely.