Skip to content
Orbis Collectibles

Pantikapaion, bronze coin — Lion head (CN type 23955)

DocumentedSupported by at least one credible specialist source.

Record status

Individual type · research required

Period

293–283 BC

Issuing entity

Pantikapaion

Coin in bronze struck at Pantikapaion, dated 293–283 BC. Corpus Nummorum, the online type corpus of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, records it as CN type 23955 (period: Hellenistic Period; issuing authority type: city).

Obverse: Clean-shaven, ivy-wreathed head of a satyr left, with long hair and blunt nose. Reverse: Lion head, left; below starry sturgeon left. Legend: ΠΑΝ. Measured specimens give a mean weight of 6.41 g (mean of 15 recorded specimens) and a diameter of 18–22 mm (from 14 recorded specimens). Published references cited by the corpus: Anochin, Antičnye monety Severnogo Pričernomor‘ja, Kiev 2011, nr. 1039; Anochin, Monetnoe delo Bospora, Kiev 1986, nr. 125; 130; Price, Sylloge nummorum Graecorum 9 The British Museum 1. The Black Sea, 1993, nr. 883-885; 887-888; Stancomb, The William Stancomb collection of coins of the Black Sea region, 2000, nr. 552-553; 554-556.

Evidence at a glance

Linked sources
6
Photograph views
2
Catalogue references
4

Counts describe this entry’s documentation, not authenticity, rarity or completeness. Photographs may show one specimen; check each caption and licence.

Historical context

Pantikapaion, also known by the Latin name Panticapaeum, was an ancient Greek city founded by Milesians in the late 7th or early 6th century BC. Located on the western side of the Cimmerian Bosporus on the eastern shore of Crimea, which the ancient Greeks called Taurica, it was established on a hill later named Mount Mithridat. The city, whose ruins lie within modern Kerch, served as an issuing authority producing coinage during the Hellenistic Period.

Physical characteristics

Material
bronze
Recorded diameter
18–22 mm (from 14 recorded specimens)
Recorded mean weight
6.41 g (mean of 15 recorded specimens)

Technical characteristics

Mint
Pantikapaion
Authority type
City

Design

Obverse type
Clean-shaven, ivy-wreathed head of a satyr left, with long hair and blunt nose.
Reverse type
Lion head, left; below starry sturgeon left.
Reverse legend
ΠΑΝ

Identification

Period
Hellenistic Period
How to identify
Check the mint name or ethnic, the reverse type and the legend together, then compare weight and module; types from the same mint often differ only in legend arrangement, magistrate names or control marks. 1 closely related CN type with the same mint, denomination and design is consolidated into this entry and listed under varieties.
Type corpus record
https://www.corpus-nummorum.eu/types/23955
Type corpus identifier
CN type 23955

Documentation checklist

Denomination
Research required
Issue or mint date
Recorded
Material
Recorded
Weight
Recorded
Mint or printer
Recorded
Mint or printer mark
Research required
Catalogue reference
Recorded
Attached photograph (check rights)
Recorded

Recorded means a field is present, not independently verified. Read its wording, supporting source and the entry’s confidence level.

Catalogue references

Varieties

  • CN type 23968

    Same mint, denomination and design (reverse legend ΠΑΝ); dated 293–283 BC. Consolidated into this entry

Research required

  • Photograph reuse terms to be confirmed with the holding institution
Can you source one of these? Submit a reference