On the Question of Attribution Countermarks “Ear” оn the Coins and Panticapaeum and Phanagoria

Our attention was attracted by the counters of the “ear” group on the tetrahalks of Panticapaeum and Phanagoria with images of Artemis on the obverse and fallow deer on the reverse. We believe that they appeared in the Pontic period. It is possible that they were imposed on the initiative of Neoptolem at temporary mints of military settlements in order to increase the denomination to diobol. It was not by chance that a neutral symbol was chosen, but at the same time, a very well-known symbol to the local population — the “ear”. Its appearance was due to the importance of the Bosporus for Mithridates VI Eupator Dionysius as a major food supplier. The same circumstance should explain the fact of placing a counter-frame on that part of the coin field where Artemis’s bow and bow were previously minted. After all, Nepotolem managed to pacify the Bosporus, subordinate it to the power of the Pontic sovereign

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