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Kingdom (or Satrapy) of Armenia Minor, Mithradates, c. 3rd - 2nd Century B.C.
For numismatists, it has been very tricky assigning coins to Armenia Minor (also known as Lesser Armenia or Armenia Inferior), the coastal region of ancient Armenia west and north of the head waters of the Euphrates river. Its regularly shifting borders were not well understood even by ancient writers and even its name (as opposed to the better known Kingdom of Armenia Major) did not come into use until around the time of Julius Caesar. For some of the difficulties in piecing together Armenia Minor's fragmentary history, see "The Satrapy of Western Armenia in the Mithridatid Kingdom" by Luis Ballesteros Pastor in Mobility in Research on the Black Sea Region (Cluj-Napoca, 2016), edited by Victor Cojocaru and Alexander Rubel. Since the printing of Frank Kovacs' magnum opus, Armenian Coinage in the Classical Period (Lancaster/London, 2016), the researcher personally stated to this cataloger in January 2024 that "the attribution of the early Mithradates coins seems more likely to be Armenia Minor, but coin finds suggest that the border between Armenia Minor and Sophene at this period was fluid." The exact identity of the Mithradates in question remains just that, an open question with several candidates. That said, in Kovacs' online corrigenda for ACCP (current as of July 2023), he is now inclined to believe that Mithradates precedes the equally mysterious Arkathias I (who is connected to Mithradates via die links and countermark evidence). Kovacs aims to thoroughly update his Armenian coin catalog with a second edition of ACCP in the not so distant future.GB113717. Bronze chalkous, Kovacs 29 corr. (Mithradates I of Sophene), Nercessian ACV -, Bedoukian CCA -, F, dark patina, Uncertain mint, weight 2.016g, maximum diameter 11.8mm, die axis 180o, c. 3rd - 2nd century B.C.; obverse draped and bearded bust of Mithradates to left, in bashlyk tied with diadem; reverse bashlyk with curved top; ex Leu Numismatik web auction 25 (11 Mar 2023), lot 996; ex Leu Numismatik web auction 17 (14 Aug 2021), lot 1285; rare; $90.00 SALE |PRICE| $81.00
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