Numismatica Ars Classica
Auction 132 30-31 May 2022
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Mostis, 125 – 86
Tetradrachm circa 125-86, AR 16.77 g. Diademed and draped bust r. Rev. ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ – MOΣTIΔOΣ Athena seated l., holding Nike and spear and resting l. elbow on shield; in inner l. field, monogram. In exergue, METOYΣKB. SNG BM Black Sea 309 var. (different legend and monogram). SNG Copenhagen 1172 var. (different legend and monogram). de Callataÿ, Le roi thrace Mostis et une surfrappe d'un Alexandre tardif de Mésembria, in RBN 137 (1991), pl. II, 3. de Luynes 1822.
Extremely rare and possibly the finest specimen in private hands. A very interesting issue
with a pleasant Hellenistic portrait. Light old cabinet tone, a minor scratch on
reverse field at eleven o'clock, otherwise about extremely fine
Ex Tkalec sale 23 October 1992, 85.
Mostis is a somewhat mysterious figure in the history of late Hellenistic Thrace. He is known only from inscriptions and rare coinage. From this limited evidence it is believed that Mostis was a king of the Caeni-a Thracian tribe living along the coast of the Propontis-who took power following the death of the almost equally obscure king Ziselmis in ca. 139/8 BC. The date for the beginning of his reign is assumed from the evidence of overstrikes. Considering that last date known for his tetradrachms is year 38, which may be equivalent to 102/1 BC, it has been suggested that Mostis was overthrown in 101/0 BC, when the praetor T. Didius conquered the territory of the Caeni and added it to the Roman province of Macedonia. The present tetradrachm features a late portrait of Mostis wearing the diadem of Hellenistic kingship and drapery over his shoulder. This latter feature may perhaps reflect the influence of Ptolemaic coinage or- a feature that may perhaps be derived from the draped bust of Artemis Tauropolos on the tetradrachms of the Macedonian districts that circulated widely in Thrace. Such drapery had not been a regular feature of Hellenistic royal portraits on coins previously in Macedonia, Thrace, or in the Attalid Kingdom. The reverse type depicting Athena Nikephoros is derived from the popular tetradrachms struck by Lysimachos beginning in 297/6 BC and which continued to be produced by cities of the Propontic and western Black Sea coasts down to the first century BC.
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Tetradrachm circa 125-86, AR 16.77 g. Diademed and draped bust r. Rev. ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ – MOΣTIΔOΣ Athena seated l., holding Nike and spear and resting l. elbow on shield; in inner l. field, monogram. In exergue, METOYΣKB. SNG BM Black Sea 309 var. (different legend and monogram). SNG Copenhagen 1172 var. (different legend and monogram). de Callataÿ, Le roi thrace Mostis et une surfrappe d'un Alexandre tardif de Mésembria, in RBN 137 (1991), pl. II, 3. de Luynes 1822.
Extremely rare and possibly the finest specimen in private hands. A very interesting issue
with a pleasant Hellenistic portrait. Light old cabinet tone, a minor scratch on
reverse field at eleven o'clock, otherwise about extremely fine
Ex Tkalec sale 23 October 1992, 85.
Mostis is a somewhat mysterious figure in the history of late Hellenistic Thrace. He is known only from inscriptions and rare coinage. From this limited evidence it is believed that Mostis was a king of the Caeni-a Thracian tribe living along the coast of the Propontis-who took power following the death of the almost equally obscure king Ziselmis in ca. 139/8 BC. The date for the beginning of his reign is assumed from the evidence of overstrikes. Considering that last date known for his tetradrachms is year 38, which may be equivalent to 102/1 BC, it has been suggested that Mostis was overthrown in 101/0 BC, when the praetor T. Didius conquered the territory of the Caeni and added it to the Roman province of Macedonia. The present tetradrachm features a late portrait of Mostis wearing the diadem of Hellenistic kingship and drapery over his shoulder. This latter feature may perhaps reflect the influence of Ptolemaic coinage or- a feature that may perhaps be derived from the draped bust of Artemis Tauropolos on the tetradrachms of the Macedonian districts that circulated widely in Thrace. Such drapery had not been a regular feature of Hellenistic royal portraits on coins previously in Macedonia, Thrace, or in the Attalid Kingdom. The reverse type depicting Athena Nikephoros is derived from the popular tetradrachms struck by Lysimachos beginning in 297/6 BC and which continued to be produced by cities of the Propontic and western Black Sea coasts down to the first century BC.
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