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The Bosporan Kingdom, or Cimmerian Bosporus, was named after the strait connecting the northern coastal Black Sea to the smaller Sea of Azov. The capital, Panticapaeum, was founded on the western side (modern-day Kerch, Crimea) by Milesians sometime around late 7th or early 6th century BC. The city held a strategic position as boundary between the Hellenistic world and the Pontic-Caspian steppe. As such, it was a prosperous trading port, with goods ranging from fish and wheat to slaves.
This coin was minted in Panticapaeum at the end of the 4th century BC, during the ruling period of the Sparocid dynasty. Depicted on the coins are several symbols commonly associated with the city. For example, the coin’s reverse displays the forepart of a griffin (a chimerical creature with the front of an eagle and the back of a lion) and underneath it a fish (resembling a sturgeon, which was common in Cimmerian waters at the time).
The obverse wonderfully depicts a wreathed and bearded satyr, presumably the local favorite deity, Pan. According to Hellenistic mythology, Pan, “to pasture” in Greek, is god of the wilds, ruling over shepherds and flocks, and is associated with hunting and rustic music. He has the hindquarters, legs, and horns of a goat (note the latter on the coin). Pan is connected to fertility, the season of spring, and chasing after nymphs. Notable was the lecherous pursuit of the lovely water-nymph Syrinx who, to escape from Pan’s importunities, had herself turned into a reed. Pan, not sure which one of them was his former flame, took several reeds and joined them together, forming his famous flute.
Several centuries after this coin was minted, King Mithridates VI would absorb Pantincapeaum into his Pontic kingdom. Given the city’s strategic location, this would not be its last affiliation change, as it fell under domain of the Romans, the Byzantine Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and later, the Russian Empire. Even today, the sovereignty and control of the Crimean peninsula is subject of ongoing dispute.
Coin Details: Cimmerian Bosporos, Panticapaeum, circa 310-304/3 BC, AE (20 mm, 6.33g, 11h), NGC Grade: Ch AU*, Strike: 5/5, Surface: 4/5, Obverse: Wreathed and bearded head of satyr right, Reverse: Forepart of griffin left, fish below left, References: MacDonald 69; HGC 6, 113; SNG Black Sea 869-871.