Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XXI 24-25 Mar 2021
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Skythia, Borysthenes EL Stater. Circa 550-500 BC. Lydo-Milesian standard. Lion curled in foetal position / Two incuse squares with geometric patterns; incuse crescent on one side. Anokhin 150; H.S. Kim, 'Electrum Ingot Hoard (2002)' in SNR 83 (2004), A corr. (not modern); CNG 102, lot 173 (same dies and punches); HGC 3.2, 1840. 14.29g, 23mm.
Good Very Fine; struck on a broad flan. Extremely Rare.
Ex property of Konstantin Barkovskiy;
Ex Roma Numismatics Ltd., Auction XIII, 23 March 2017, lot 206.
Borysthenes was one of the earliest Greek settlements in the northern Black Sea region. Situated on modern-day Berezan island, Borysthenes was named after the river, the island itself being located at the entrance of the estuary. It appears to have been first established in the mid-7th century BC, and thrived on the wheat trade with the Skythian hinterland. By the end of the 5th century however it had been largely abandoned in favour of Olbia, which had become the dominant colony in the region. Early bronze arrowhead proto-money is well attested, and the extraordinary (and extremely rare) early electrum coinage, known only from staters and trites, was recognized by V. A. Anokhin (Ancient Coins of the Northern Black Sea Coast, Kiev, 2011), a scholar intimately knowledgeable with the region's coinage, as being the product of a mint "that had previously only been known to produce bronze coinage and proto-coinage, one that is also at a geographically significant distance from other mints producing electrum" (CNG 102, 173), and accepted as authentic, despite having been initially received with scepticism by H. S. Kim (Electrum Ingot Hoard 2002 in SNR 83, 2004), largely due to the inflexibility of Kim's own perspective; namely that he expected any electrum coinage of the region should conform metallurgically with that of Kyzikos, Mytilene and Phokaia. Not only are these cities very distant in geographical terms, but we know that the metal content of electrum varied significantly over time and from region to region; there was no logical reason for Kim to expect electrum from a remote outpost to match that of large poleis elsewhere.
Good Very Fine; struck on a broad flan. Extremely Rare.
Ex property of Konstantin Barkovskiy;
Ex Roma Numismatics Ltd., Auction XIII, 23 March 2017, lot 206.
Borysthenes was one of the earliest Greek settlements in the northern Black Sea region. Situated on modern-day Berezan island, Borysthenes was named after the river, the island itself being located at the entrance of the estuary. It appears to have been first established in the mid-7th century BC, and thrived on the wheat trade with the Skythian hinterland. By the end of the 5th century however it had been largely abandoned in favour of Olbia, which had become the dominant colony in the region. Early bronze arrowhead proto-money is well attested, and the extraordinary (and extremely rare) early electrum coinage, known only from staters and trites, was recognized by V. A. Anokhin (Ancient Coins of the Northern Black Sea Coast, Kiev, 2011), a scholar intimately knowledgeable with the region's coinage, as being the product of a mint "that had previously only been known to produce bronze coinage and proto-coinage, one that is also at a geographically significant distance from other mints producing electrum" (CNG 102, 173), and accepted as authentic, despite having been initially received with scepticism by H. S. Kim (Electrum Ingot Hoard 2002 in SNR 83, 2004), largely due to the inflexibility of Kim's own perspective; namely that he expected any electrum coinage of the region should conform metallurgically with that of Kyzikos, Mytilene and Phokaia. Not only are these cities very distant in geographical terms, but we know that the metal content of electrum varied significantly over time and from region to region; there was no logical reason for Kim to expect electrum from a remote outpost to match that of large poleis elsewhere.