Nomos 30

CIMMERIAN BOSPOROS. Pantikapaion. Circa 340-325 BC. Tridrachm (Silver, 26 mm, 11.70 g, 1 h). Head of a youthful satyr to left, with a pug nose, a bony knob on his forehead, a pointed animal’s ear and an ivy wreath. Rev. Π-Α-Ν Head of an ox to left. MacDonald 56. SNG BM Black Sea 879. Rare. Toned and well-struck on a broad flan. Minor marks and uncleaned deposits, otherwise, nearly extremely fine.

This impressively sharp coin features two important types used at Pantikapaion in the fourth century BC. Although it has sometimes been considered a representation of Pan, and therefore a punning reference to the city, the obverse portrait is currently thought to depict a satyr. As such, it was a dynastic badge of the Bosporan kings resident in the city, who claimed their descent from an obscure early ruler named Satyros. The head of the bull (tauros in Greek), which seems to be watching intently from the surface of the coin, is a symbolic reference to the location of Pantkapaion in the Tauric Chersonesos.