Scythians and Greeks on the Western Black Sea

The Scythians have fascinated investigators since the time of Herodotus. This study examines the bronze and silver coinage of the kingdom of Scythia Minor in Dobruja at the mouth of the Danube River, a Scythian successor state that emerged in the second century BCE after the breakup of Scythia Magna. It is based on a corpus of over 1,500 coins, more than ever before, and draws upon scholarship in nine languages, including hard-to-find sources from Bulgaria, Romania, USSR, Ukraine, and Russia. The much-debated chronology of the six kings of Scythia Minor (Kanites, Tanousas, Charaspes, Ailis, Sariakes, and Akrosas) is determined through literary evidence, inscriptions, die linkage, shared monograms, coin hoards, and counterstamps. Metrological analysis distinguishes four denominations, plus the alterations and debasements of the weight standard during the troubled reigns of Ailis and Sariakes. Fifteen counterstamps that appear on Scythian coins are attributed to the local Greek poleis of Callatis, Tomis, Istros, and Dionysopolis. An inventory of four hoards and 47 findspots of single coins identifies the mint site, Dionysopolis. The volume concludes with a catalog of 63 major coin types and 15 counterstamps, plus bibliography and index.

Acknowledgements
Introduction
Scythia Magna and Dobruja
Literary and Epigraphic Sources for the Kingdom of Scythia Minor in Dobruja
Earlier Studies of the Coins of Scythia Minor
Ethnic Identification and Chronology of the Kings of Scythia Minor
Coin Types, Legends, and Magistrates’ Monograms
Metrology, Weight Standard, Denominations, and Die Orientation
Countermarks on Scythian Coins
The Geographic Pattern of the Circulation of Scythian Coins
The Mint Location: Dionysopolis
Conclusion
Catalog of Coins and Countermarks
Appendix: List of Magistrates’ Monograms and Mintmarks
Abbreviations
Ancient Sources
Inscriptions
Papyri
Auction Catalogs and Electronic Sales
Bibliography
Index