THE HOARD OF COPPER COINS OF THE PONTIC STATE OF MITHRIDATES VI EUPATOR FROM ROMNY DISTRICT OF SUMY REGION
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24919/2519-058X.25.269571Keywords:
Northern Black Sea region, Olbia, coin finds, Mithridates VI Eupator.Abstract
The purpose and scientific novelty of the article. The article focuses on the analysis of coin complex that included 19 antique (bronze) coins of Mithridates VI Eupator times and was discovered near the Sula River, between the villages of Brodok, Zasullia and urban-type settlement Nedryhailiv, Romny district, Sumy region in the summer of 2022. The Conclusion. After including of Greek apoikias of the Northern Black Sea region to the Pontus state of Mithridates VI Eupator times there appeared a significant number of copper Pontic coins in their money circulation, resulted in their spread in the Pontic Steppe region, particularly in Steppe and Forrest-Steppe zones of modern Ukraine. The detailed study of this monetary complex allowed the authors to compile its catalogue and systematize the coins according to the issue centres and the chronology of their minting. It has been determined that all 19 coins of the Pontic state of Mithridates VI Eupator from the coin hoard, which were found in the summer of 2022 near urban-type settlement Nedryhailiv, Romny district, Sumy region, constitute two consecutive groups of copper coins medium denomination B, minted in the cities of Amaseia, Amisos and Sinope.
It has been determined that coins of Ares/Sword type constitute 68,42% and coins of Aegina/Nika type comprise 31,58% in the hoard composition. Concerning the minting places of these coins, though coins from Amaseia account for 5,26%, Amisos amount 84,21% and Sinope comprise 10,53%.
The two classifications by F. Imhoof-Blumer and François de Callataÿ of the copper coins of Pontic State of times Mithridates VI Eupator have been analysed by the authors. It has been assumed, that Pontic coins of the medium denomination Ares/Sword type B were minted approximately in 110–100 BC, the type of Ares/Sword with letters IB were coined – in 100–90 BC, and the Aegis/Nika type were minted in 90–85 BC.
It has been proven that the find of this coin’s hoard of the Pontic State of Mithridates VI Eupator times on the territory of the Left-Bank Forest-Steppe, particularly in Romny district, Sumy region fully corresponds to the archaeological content of this region specifically archaeological finds of the materials of Zarubintsy culture and numismatic sources, which are known to the authors: coins of Scythian King Skilurus, which were minted in Olbia in 130–120 BC and Pontic coins. It has been highlighted that the coin finds of the 3rd-1st centuries BC on the territory of Sumy region are recorded not only in the Sula River basin and in the basins of the Seym and the Psel rivers.
The monetary complex studied in the article is an important source not only of the history of the settlement of Posullia at the end of the 2nd – the beginning of the 1st century BC and the connections of the population of this region with the antique Black Sea region, but also of the history of coinage in the Pontic state during the times of Mithridates VI Eupator.
References
Abramzon, M. G. & Frolova, N. A. (2008). Korpus Bosporskikh kladov antichnykh monet [Corpus of Bosporan Hoards of Antique Coins]. Vol. 1. Kyiv: ADEF-Ukraí̈na. [in Russian]
Anokhin, V. A. (2011). Antichnyye monety Severnogo Prichernomor'ya: Katalog [Antique Coins of the Northern Black Sea Coastal Region: Catalogue]. Kyiv: Stilos. [in Russian]
Bilynsʹkyy, O. O. (2013). Novi materialy z Basivsʹkoho horodyshcha na Posulli [New Materials from Basiv Settlement in Posullia]. Magisterium. Arkheolohichni studiyi, (53), 28–31. [in Ukrainian]
Bulatovych, S.A. (2003). Pontiysʹki monety v Tyri [The Pontic Coins at Tyra]. Zapysky istorychnoho fakulʹtetu, (14), 39–44. [in Ukrainian]
Callataÿ, F. (de) (2007). La révision de la chronologie des bronzes de Mithridate Eupator et ses conséquences sur la datation des monnayages et des sites du Bosphore Cimmérien. Une koinè Pontique cités grecques, sociétés indigènes et empires mondiaux sur le littoral nord de la Mer noire (VIIe s. a.C. – IIIe s. p.C.). 271–308. [in French]
Dobrovolʹsʹkyy, A. V. (1952). Materialy do arkheolohichnoyi karty Dniprovsʹkoho Nadporizhzhya v mezhakh Zaporizʹkoyi oblasti (Za materialamy Dniprohesivsʹkoyi ekspedytsiyi) [Materials for Archaeological Map of the Dnieper Nadporizhe within the Boundaries of Zaporizhzhia Region (Based on the materials of the Dniprohesiv expedition)]. Arkheolohiya, (7), 75–88. [in Ukrainian]
Gavrilov, A. V. (2001). Novyye nakhodki antichnykh monet v Yugo-Vostochnom Krymu. [New Finds of Ancient Coins in the South-Eastern Crimea]. Bosproskiye issledovaniya, (1), 185–206. [in Russian]
Gavrilov, A. V. (2010). Numizmaticheskiy material selishcha Kuru Bash (lager') i nekotoryye voprosy istorii Feodosii kontsa II–I vv. do n.e. [Numismatic Material from the Settlement of Kuru Bash (camp) and some Questions of the History of Feodosia at the End of the 2nd – the 1st Centuries BC]. Stratum plus, (6), 141–157. [in Russian]
Gilevich, A. M. (1968). Antichnyye inogorodniye monety iz raskopok Khersonesa. [Antique Nonresident Coins from the Excavations of Chersonese]. NiS, (3), 3–62. [in Russian]
Grierson, P. (1975). Numismatics. Oxford: University Press. [in English]
Hrechko, D. S. (2021). Etnokulʹturna istoriya naselennya Dniprovsʹkoho lisostepovoho Livoberezhzhya skifsʹkoho chasu [Ethnocultural History of the Population of the Dnieper Forest-Steppe Left Bank of the Scythian period]. (Doctor’s thesis). Kyiv. [in Ukrainian]
Illinsʹka, V. A. (1965). Basivsʹke horodyshche. [Basiv Settlement.]. Arkheolohiya, (XVIII), 48–76. [in Ukrainian]
Imhoof-Blumer, F. (1912). Die Kupferprägungen des mithradatischen Reiches und andere Münzen des Pontus und Paphlagoniens. Numismatische Zeitschrift, (45), 169–192. [in German]
Karyshkovskiy, P. O. (1988). Monety Ol'vii. Ocherk denezhnogo obrashcheniya Severo-Zapadnogo Prichernomor'ya v antichnuyu epokhu [Coins of Olbia. An Outline of the Monetary Circulation of the North-Western Black Sea Region in Ancient Times]. Kyiv: Naukova dumka. [in Russian]
Komar, A.V. (2014). Mechi Dneprostroya (k istorii nakhodki 1928 g.) [Swords of Dneprostroy (on the History of the 1928 Find)]. Rus' v IX – XII vekakh: obshchestvo, gosudarstvo, kul'tura, (pp. 47–61). Moskva; Vologda: Drevnosti Severa. [in Russian]
Kotsur, V. (2017). Istoriohrafiya ukrayinsʹkoho skarboznavstva [Historiography of the Ukrainian Treasurology]. The Ukrainian Numismatic Annual, (1), 15–32. [in Ukrainian]
Mielczarek, M. (1989). Ancient Greek Coins Found in Central, Eastern and Northern Europe. Wrocław-Warszawa-Kraków-Gdańsk-Łódź: Ossolineum. [in English]
Mielczarek, M. (2008). On Greek Coin Finds from the Central European Barbaricum. Roman Coins outside the Empire. Ways and Phases, Contexts and Functions. Proceedings of the ESF/SCH Exploratory Workshop Radziwiłł Palace, Nieborów (Poland) 3-6 September 2005, (pp. 11–34). Wetteren: Moneta. [in English]
Mielczarek, M. & Orlyk, V. (2019). New Find of Olbian Coins. Tarashcha district, Kyiv region, Ukraine. Skhidnoievropeiskyi Istorychnyi Visnyk – East European Historical Bulletin, 13, 33–39. [in English]
Monety Amis, Pont. Mitridat VI Yevpator. URL: https://violity.com/111026768-monety-g-amis-pont-mitridat-vi-evpator
Myzhin, K., Stepanenko, S. & Sytiy, Yu. (2019). Pro znakhidku pantikapeysʹkoho obolu na rannʹoserednʹovichnomu Shestovytsʹkomu horodyshchi [On the Finding of the Pantikapaion Obol on the Early Medieval Hillfort of Shestovytsya]. The Ukrainian Numismatic Annual, (2), 15–26. [in Ukrainian]
Nikolaev, M. (2019). Onomastyka ta prosopohrafiya u vidnovlenni monetnykh monohram (na prykladi Olʹviyi IV st. do n. e.) [Onomastics and Prospography in Restoration of Coin Monograms (On the Example of Olbia IV Century B.C.)]. The Ukrainian Numismatic Annual, (3), 5–27. [in Ukrainian]
Nikolaev, M. (2020). Khronolohiya olʹviysʹkykh “Borysfeniv” [The Chronology of Olbian ‘Borysthenes’]. The Ukrainian Numismatic Annual, (4), 14–42. [in Ukrainian]
Nikolayev, N. I. (2021). Yeshcho odin shag k zaversheniyu diskussii o khronologii dekreta v chest' Protogena [One More Step to the Completion of the Discussion on the Chronology of the Decree in Honour of Protogenes]. Stratum plus, (6), 169–181. [in Russian]
Nimenko, N. A. (2007). Z istoriyi arkheolohichnykh doslidzhenʹ u Serednʹomu Posulli. [From the History of Archaeological Research in Middle Posullia]. Aktualʹni pytannya istoriyi, kulʹturolohiyi ta krayeznavstva: Materialy naukovo-teoretychnoyi konferentsiyi vykladachiv, aspirantiv ta studentiv (23–24 kvitnya 2007 r.), (II, pp. 3–12). Sumy: SumDU. [in Ukrainian]
Orlyk, V. (2021a). Do pytannya isnuvannya hroshovoho obihu v naselennya lisostepovoyi zony Pravoberezhnoyi Naddnipryanshchyny v V–I st. do n.e. [On the Question of the Existence of Monetary Circulation among the Population of the Forest-steppe Zone of the Right-Bank Naddniprianshchyna region in the Vth – the Ist Centuries BC]. Problemy i perspektyvy numizmatyky Antychnoyi ta Rymsʹkoyi doby na terenakh Pivdenno-Skhidnoyi Yevropy: tezy dopovidey I Mizhnarodnoho fakhovoho seminaru, prysvyachenoho pamʺyati V. O. Anokhina, 26 veresnya 2019 roku, (pp. 9–11). Medzhybizh-Zhytomyr. [in Ukrainian]
Orlyk, V. M. (2021b). Znakhidky antychnykh monet VI–I st. do n. e. v baseyni r. Tyasmyn [The Find of Ancient Coins in the Tiasmyn River Basin from the VI to the Ist Century BC]. The Ukrainian Numismatic Annual, (5), 5–44. [in Ukrainian]
Orlyk, V. & Orlyk, S. (2020). The New Find of a Bronze Coin of Kerkinitis in the Middle Dnieper Ukraine (Horodysche District, Cherkasy Region, Ukraine). Danubius, (XXXVIII), 9–23. [in English]
Orlyk, V. (2020a). Znakhidky v baseyni r. Tyasmynu midnykh monet Olʹviyi z Demetroyu ta “istriysʹkym” variantom misʹkoyi emblemy [The Finds in the River Basin of Tiasmyn Copper Coins of Olbia with the Demeter and “Istrian” Variant of the City Emblem]. The Ukrainian Numismatic Annual, (4), 5–13. [in Ukrainian]
Orlyk, V. (2020b). Znakhidky monet Pontiysʹkoyi derzhavy Mitridata Yevpatora na terytoriyi Dniprovsʹkoho Pravoberezhnoho Lisostepu [Finds of Coins of Kingdom of Pontus of Mithridates Eupator on the Territory of the Dnipro Right-Bank Forest-Steppe]. Ukrainian Historical Journal, (6), 93–103. [in Ukrainian]
Orlyk, V. (2022). Skarb dribnykh monet Pantikapeyu ta Hermonassy kintsya VI – pochatku V st. do RKH z Pivnichno-Skhidnoyi Kirovohradshchyny [The Hoard of the Small Coins of Panticapaeum and Hermonassa of the End of the Sixth – the Beginning of the Fifth Centuries BC from the Northern-Eastern Kirovohrad Region]. Sotsium. Dokument. Komunikatsiya, 15, 106–121. [in Ukrainian]
Orlyk, V., Kotsur, V. & Tsyganenko, L. (2019). Klad ol'viyskikh monet “borisfenov”, naydennyy v Gorodishchenskom rayone Cherkasskoy oblasti vesnoy 2018 goda [Hoard of Olbian Coins of ‘Borysthenes’ Type Found in Spring of 2018 in the Region of Gorodishche Town, Oblast Cherkassy, Ukraine]. Acta Archaeologica Lodziensia, (65), 37–48. ]in Russian]
Orlyk, V. M. (2021c). Novyy tip ol'viyskoy mednoy monety vremen Mitridata Yevpatora. [The New Type of the Olbian Copper Coin from the Time of Mithridates Eupator]. Stratum plus, (6), 87–92. [in Russian]
Peter, U. & Stolba, V. F. (2022). Balkanraum und nördliches Schwarzmeergebiet. in: International Numismatic Council. SuRevey of Numismatic Research 2014–2020, I & II, 188–251. [in German]
Shestopal, A. V. (2007). Skarby Cherkashchyny [Hoards of Cherkasy Region]. Cherkasy: Vyd. Androshchuk P.S., 120 p. [in Ukrainian]
Skoryy, S. & Zimovets, R. (2014). K probleme tovarno-denezhnykh otnosheniy u naseleniya Vostochnoyevropeyskoy Lesostepi v skifskuyu epokhu [On the Problem of Commodity-Money Relations among the Population of the East European Forest-Steppe in the Scythian Era]. Naukovi zapysky Kirovohradsʹkoho derzhavnoho pedahohichnoho universytetu imeni Volodymyra Vynnychenka. Seriya: Istorychni nauky, 21, 141–156 [in Russian]
Stolba, V. F. (2005). Bronzovyy chekan Mitridata VI Yevpatora: neskol'ko zamechaniy otnositel'no novoy khronologii [Bronze Coinage of Mithridates VI Eupator: a Few Remarks on the New Chronology]. Trinadtsataya vserossiyskaya numizmaticheskaya konferentsiya. Tezisy dokladov i soobshcheniy, (pp. 29–31). [in Russian]
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
