Amisos Gorgoneion -- which magistrate and when minted?

I'm out of my bailiwick here with this Greek bronze. I'm pretty sure I've narrowed it down to BMC 77-78 by the monograms. The question I have is whether anyone knows which particular magistrate might have issued this coin and when? Is there a more specific reference/attribution?

Thanks in advance!


Pontus, Amisos, c. 85-65 BC?
AE 21.1 mm, 6.24 g, 12 h.
Obv: Aegis, with Gorgon's head at center.
Rev: Nike advancing right, carrying palm brance with filet, ΑΜΙ-ΣΟΥ across field, Monograms to left and right.
Refs: Sear 3642, BMC 13.20, 77-78 (?).

Here's the listing in BMC Pontus:

 

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I can't help you out RC, but thanks for posting that BMC - a source I didn't have.

Every time I get one of these, I spend an hour or three staring at monograms trying to figure things out. I have a lot to learn and hope more information is unearthed on this thread.

This one looked sorta like yours, maybe. Take my attribution with a grain of salt - I got this from Wildwinds and a few acsearch finds. Now perhaps I should add "BMC 13.20, 77-78 (?)":



Pontos, Amisos Æ 22
Mithradates VI Eupator
(c. 120-63 B.C.)
Aegis with gorgon's head at center / Nike advancing right, holding wreath and palm;
monograms ME left, YTE right; AMI - SO
SNG BM Black Sea 1190;
SNG Cop. 172.
(6.44 grams / 22 mm)

 

I posted one of these a while back. My first Greek purchase. Looks very similar. Be interested to hear more......

Amisos, Pontos, AE20, c100 BC BMC 72
Obv, AEGIS with facing Gorgon in centre.
Rev, AMI SOY, Nike advancing rt, holding palm over shoulder with both hands.
Monogram to left & rt field.

 

You have the combination "ME with I-wearing-upside-down-A". I have seen this in
William Henry Waddington, Recueil général des monnaies grecques d'Asie Mineure (1904), vol. i. p. 57. He cites "Imh", "B", "Loebb", and "P". https://books.google.com/books?id=ipOQsjW8aNkC&pg=PA57

Every combination I have seen from Amisos has been on that 1904 table or in Michel Amandry, Brigitte Le Guen-Pollet, Birsel Özcan et Bernard Remy, “Le Tresor De Binbasioglu (Tokat, Turquie) - Monnaies de Bronze des Villes du Pont Frappees sous Mithridate VI Eupator”, Pontica I (1991). The new symbols in Amadry are a ΔΕ monogram, a “bat” monogram, a variant of the ΓΑ monogram, a new ΕΚ, a new ΡΔ (?), and a new ΡΘΔ.

Warwick Wroth linked a monogram to “Arch-elous", but not your monogram. No clue though if Wroth got it correct, or if Arch-elous is Mithradates’ son, king Archelous of Cappadocia vs Mithradates’ general Archelous who defected to the Romans in 83 BC. I don't recall if any of the other monograms even have a proposal for their decoding.

As for when, François de Callataÿ wrote “[the Piraeus hoard] proves the type ‘Aegis/Nike’ was struck prior to 86 BC, the date of the Sack of Athens and of the destruction of the house where it was found.” He continues “no significant strike of Mithradatic bronzes ever occurred after the end of the first war (85 BC)”. Although de Callataÿ doesn’t give a start date in this paper, in another paper de Callataÿ says 95 BC. Those are the dates I use, other sources give different numbers.

For a reference, yours looks like SNGuk_0901_1191 SNG Black Sea 1191.

 

Thank you so much, @Ed Snible ! That's very informative and helpful. The SNG Black Sea specimen is BMC 78, I see, and it may well be a reverse die-match to my coin.

 

You are welcome, @Roman Collector . There is a book by Alex Malloy, The Coinage of Amisus, which should be the best reference for the city, listing all of the monogram combinations. Unfortunately no one owns it so there is no point in citing it. I don't even have a photocopy.