BOSPORAN KINGDOM. Asander, as King (ca. 47-16 BC). AV stater (20mm, 8.21 gm, 12h). NGC MS 4/5 - 3/5. Dated Regnal Year 8 (40/39 BC). Diademed head of Asander right with long, flowing hair, one diadem end flittering up behind head, other draped over shoulder; Φ between tie ends / ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ / ΑΣΑΝΔΡΟΥ, Nike standing left on galley prow right, with wreath in extended right hand, palm in left; Π in inner left field; H (date) in exergue. MacDonald 198 (this coin). RPC I 1849A. Extremely rare, with only one other example in sales archives and RPC lists only two known specimens. Well centered strike on flashy imperial yellow flan. Gorgeous in hand. Ex Dr. Larry Adams Collection (Triton XIX, 5 January 2016), lot 2048; Triton V (15-16 January 2002), lot 1393 The Bosporan Kingdom lay across the Black Sea from the northern coast of Asia Minor, occupying the Crimea and Taman Peninsula. The kingdom's dynastic politics proved exceedingly complex, with familial betrayal being commonplace. Pharnaces II, who became king by patricide, had the tables turned on him, when his daughter Dynamis and son-in-law Asande, had Pharnaces II put to death. Unfortunately for the couple, Bosporus was under the influences of Rome at that time, and Julius Caesar installed his friend, Mithridates II of Pergamum, to the throne. However, his reign was short lived; Asander, taking advantage of the chaos happening in Rome, killed Mithradates and seized the throne. Eventually Octavian recognized him as king and designated him as "Friend of the Romans," in ca. 43 BC.

HID09801242017

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