KINGS OF ARMENIA MINOR. Mithradates, circa 180s-170s BC. Chalkous (Bronze, 11 mm, 1.00 g, 8 h). Draped bust of Mithradates to left, bearded and wearing upright bashlyk tied with a diadem. Rev. Griffin springing left. Kovacs -. Unpublished and unique, and of great importance. Good very fine.


While the coinage of Mithradates is, as this catalogue shows, particularly diverse, this coin is perhaps the most unexpected discovery: it shows a griffin on the reverse! The type was perhaps copied from Greek issues in western Asia Minor, but it is worth noting that the griffin, a mythical creature with the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle, appears in ancient Iranian (and Egyptian) art as early as the 4th millennium BC.