350 – 250 BCE
AE 12mm 1.95g
Head of the river god Istros facing slightly right /
Sea eagle on dolphin left.
SNG BM Black Sea 260
Istros, founded by settlers from Miletos in 630 BCE, is the oldest known settlement in modern day Romania. The Black Sea port reached considerable wealth, as evidenced by its ample coinage, through trading with the interior.
Its more famous coins are those depicting two faces at 180 degrees from each other. To this day we’re not quite sure their meaning, though some historians have proposed it’s the first recording of an eclipse, though this is extremely controversial and rejected by most other historians.
I chose this far less debated bronze because I liked the depiction of the river god Istros. These bronzes are also much rarer.
The city became the center of a dispute between Philip II and the Scythian king Ateas, and Philip II took the city and destroyed its walls. They were rebuilt and destroyed several more times during the Hellenistic era.