COMMAGENE. Uncertain. 1st century BC. Dichalkon (Bronze, 13 mm, 2.21 g, 12 h). Lion (or lioness?) jumping right. Rev. Crab. Leu Web Auction 16 (2021), 1230. Leu Web Auction 19 (2022), 1624. Kovacs -. Extremely rare. Struck slightly off center and with very light doubling on the obverse, otherwise, very fine.


This enigmatic dichalkon is clearly reminiscent of the issues tentatively attributed to Mithradates III of Commagene (cf. Alram 249). It is, however, anepigraphic, making it unlikely that it was issued by a king. Perhaps it was struck as a local emergency issue in a time of crisis, which in war-torn mid and late 1st century Asia Minor was certainly common.