When I came home this evening and I went to my desk to my surprise I found out my fiancée got me a coin, well late Christmas present I guess! She was not so font of my coin collecting in the beginning but now she even watches me when I am bidding in auctions, according to her because she likes seeing people spend so much money for stupid coins, but I think she slowly starts to like it anyway . I told her some time ago that if she ever buys me a coin to buy it from trusted dealers (I gave some names) and to only buy coins from the regions where I collect from, just to play it safe. When I first saw the obverse I was like, oh no... because I got the exact same coin already (from Amisos). But then I saw the reverse and I saw it is different, and it turned out to be from a rare town in Pontos, a very good pick: Mithridates VI Chabakta, Pontos - Bronze Coin (100 B.C. – 85 B.C) Obverse: Helmeted head of Ares right. Reverse: [X]ABA-KTΩ[N] across fields, sword in sheath, star in crescent at upper left, monogram at lower left. Reference: SNG Copenhagen 205-206. Some history: There were serveral medium to small sized towns near Amisos in Pontos, this are: Side, Phabda and Chabakta. Of them, Chabakta must have been the largest and most significant during the reign of Mithridates VI because this city struck coins in it’s own name (like this coin). Chabakta served as a Pontic fortress and must have had a certain amount of land within Sidene (district on the coast of the Pont, at the mouth of the Sidenos river). Chabakta, like many other Pontic towns started to produce autonomous coinage when Mithridates VI came to power, most of the town before Mithridates lost their autonomy when Pharnaces I was on the throne. In 120 B.C. the cities: Amisos, Amaseia, Cabeira and Sinope started to mint bronze coins and got followed by other cities between 105 B.C. and 90 B.C. Identical types were minted at each city, with the city name on the reverse, suggesting a Pontic koine. The mintage within this Pontic koine must have been controlled under some sort of official. And... I think this is a great time to also show my additions for my Amisos mini-collection: Mithridates VI Amisos, Pontos - Bronze Coin (85 B.C. - 65 B.C) Obverse: Helmeted head of Athena right. Reverse: Perseus standing facing, holding harpa and Medusa's head; Medusa's body at his feet; in fields, AMI-ΣOY and monograms. Reference: SNG Cop. 137 Unfortunately, medusa is not all the way visible on the ground but I really liked seeing Perseus so detailed. Mithridates VI Amisos, Pontos - Bronze Coin (120 B.C. - 100 B.C) Obverse: Winged and draped bust of Perseus right. Reverse: Cornucopiae between two piloi, AMI-ΣOY. Reference: SNG BM Black Sea 1129-33 Post your bronze coins from Chabakta and other Pontic cities/towns!
A fiancée who bought you splendid coins from reputable dealers ????? My advice : Marry her as soon as possible !!
Very nice coins. I especially like the beautiful details on the helmet of the 2nd coin. I don't remember seeing many bronze coins showing a lot of details on helmets. Also, the 1st and 2nd have very nice patinas.
Well done @Pavlos ! LOL, she IS paying attention! Love that Chabakta Mith VI. My Fiance got me an Alexander III Drachm, I married her, and have received nary a coin since! Fun while it lasted... but, would never change a thing! Here is an AE from Amisos: PONTOS Amisos 85-65 BCE Æ24 12.2g Mithradates VI as Perseus r Phrygian helmet Pegasos grazing l Malloy 33b HGC 7 239
Congrats! Both the coin and the fiancée look to be good scores. I have one of them as well... the coin, not the fiancée, that is. My wife is excellent, even if she doesn't buy me coins. PONTOS, Chabakta AE21. 8.4g, 21.2mm. PONTOS, Chabakta. Struck under Mithradates VI, circa 111-105 BC, or 95-90 BC. HGC 7, 263 (S); SNG Cop 205-6. O: Head of Ares in Attic helmet. R: XABA-KTΩN, sword in sheath; star above crescent in field, monogram to left.
Lovely coins and thoughtful, caring fiancee! Marry her and you'll have a wife like mine, who gave me these for Christmas:
Great coins all and thank you for the replies. Nice coin, I actually like yours more since almost the whole town name is visible. Lucky you, great coins. I really need to look more into these denarii (and Roman Imperial coins in general) since they look really nice. I think my first denarii will be from Caracalla, he seems a cool guy. Thank you! You don't have any coins from Pontos? Probably you will surprise me now with an amazing looking one (I hope) .
You’ve got an awesome fiancé, Pavlos! I hope to find me a guy that will support my hobby/obsession and buy me worms for my reptiles for Valentines. Erin
Oh I do . I'm rushing through a few things right now and am heading out for lunch with my dear mother . Back to coins later today, then I'll drop a few Pontos. I don't have any from Chabakta though (jealous!).
I think there are more males who like reptiles than females, so that shouldn't be a problem I think . But reptiles are cool, I had a few in the past (Chameleons and Gecko). Great, I look forward to them
Moorish gecko, made me feel I had a part of Greece in my house Golden gecko looks very nice and bearded dragon as well, which is I think number one kept lizard.
