KINGS OF PONTOS. Mithradates VI Eupator, circa 120-63 BC. Tetradrachm (Silver, 34 mm, 16.72 g, 12 h), uncertain mint in Pontos, circa 106-98 BC. Diademed head of Mithradates VI to right. Rev. BAΣIΛEΩΣ - MIΘPAΔATOY / EYΠATOPOΣ Pegasos grazing left; to left, star-in-crescent (Pontic royal badge); to right, B above monogram; all within Dionysiac wreath of ivy and fruit. Callataÿ p. 8 and pl. 2. Gulbenkian 940. HGC 7, 336. SNG Copenhagen -. SNG Paris -. SNG von Aulock -. Lustrous and attractive, with an early and unusually individualistic portrait. A few light marks and with small die breaks on the obverse, otherwise, virtually as struck.



Unlike his predecessors, the coins of Mithridates VI depict the king in a typically Hellenistic-idealized manner as an energetic young ruler with an anastolé, the distinctive hairstyle reminiscent of Alexander the Great. This particular piece is an early issue where the king's features still appear somewhat more individualized compared to the later, more heavily idealized portraits.