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Paphlagonia, in northern Asia Minor, stretches from the Pontic mountains down to the Black Sea. With rugged mountainous, fertile valleys, and rich fisheries, this diverse territory was named after its legendary founder Paphlagonus, descendant of Phoenician kings. Around 630 BC, Miletian settlers arrived, and established the coastal city of Sinope. The region was considered an ungovernable barbaricum; despite being conquered over the next several centuries by Lydians, Persian, then Macedonians, it was to retain relative autonomy, including minting of its own style coinage.
The Paphlagonians developed an unusual and dramatic design for their coins: an eagle perched atop the back of a dolphin, as on the reverse of this coin from the late 4th century BC. The significance of this design is forgotten. Perhaps the dolphin represents the sea-god, Poseidon, and the eagle symbolizes the mountain-born sky-god, Zeus, thus reflecting Sinope’s sea to sky environs. Compared to earlier coins, wherein the eagle-dolphin design was on the obverse, with an incuse punch on the reverse, this coin has the motif on the reverse side, with the obverse bearing a portrait of the nymph Sinope herself. These coins were produced under a series of magistrates, whose names appear behind the eagle’s outstretched wings, and such numismatic designs reflect an artistic and independent spirit.
About a century and a half after this coin was minted, Mithradates VI Eupator took Sinope - his birthplace - and made it the capital of his Pontic Kingdom. The next century, the city was at its heyday, until it (along with the rest of Eupator’s realm) was conquered by the Romans. Although Sinope continued to be a prosperous colony, it never recovered its former importance.
Coin Details: PAPHLAGONIA, SINOPE. Late 4th century BC, AR Drachm (5.06 g). Agreos, magistrate, NGC Grade: MS, Strike: 5/5, Surface: 4/5, Obverse: Head of nymph left, hair in sakkos, wearing triple-pendant earring and pearl necklace, Reverse: Sea-eagle standing left, wings spread, on dolphin left; AGPE[OS] above, SINO below. References: RG 25; HGC 7, 399; SNG BM Black Sea 1481–2; SNG von Aulock 6847–9 var. (magistrate); SNG Copenhagen 284–5 var.