KINGS OF PONTOS Mithradates VI Eupator, circa 120-63 BC

KINGS OF PONTOS
Mithradates VI Eupator, circa 120-63 BC. Tetradrachm (Silver, 30 mm, 16.59 g, 2 h), Amaseia or Sinope, c. 115/114. Diademed head of Mithradates VI to right, shown as a young man with slightly unruly hair, a short beard on his cheeks and below his chin, and with his diadem ends fluttering behind him. Rev. ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ // ΜΙΘΡΑΔΑΤΟΥ/ [Ε]ΥΠΑΤΟΡΟΣ Pegasos standing left on a harpa, his right leg bent at the knee and his head bent down to graze; above Pegasos's head to left, eight-rayed star above crescent; below belly, monogram. De Callataÿ -, but see D2/R2 for a very similar die pair. HGC 7 -. Cf. Waddington 116 and Winterthur 2388 (same types but struck from different dies). Some traces of corrosion and minor marks, otherwise, good very fine.



From a Swiss collection, ex Nomos 17, 26 October 2018, 149.

This coin is not only extremely rare, but it also bears one of the finest and most realistic portraits ever to have appeared on a Greek coin. Mithradates VI Eupator was born c. 135 BC and became king upon the assassination of his father, Mithradates V, in 120. He was, however, under the regency of his mother Laodike VI; because of his adamantly independent nature, and his mother's obvious preference for his younger brother Mithradates Chestos, Eupator felt increasingly threatened. Considering how prevalent murder by poison was in Hellenistic courts (Eupator's father was murdered by poison at a banquet), his fear was surely justified. So, along with a small number of his friends who served as his loyal companions, he went into a self-imposed internal exile during which he traveled all around his kingdom. Living rough most of the time, surviving by hunting – though often staying in local palaces or lodges – Eupator also carefully visited and familiarized himself with all of the military units in his kingdom. After approximately five years he returned, disposed of both his mother and younger brother (though he gave them honorable funerals), and began his tumultuous reign.