Ancient Greece - 85-65 BCE Pontus, Amisus Time of Mithradates VI AE23 NGC Choice VF

From the Faces in Time Collection of Ancient coinage (36).

Amisus Pontus, Asia Minor. c. 85-65 BC. Obverse: Aegis splayed out, Gorgoneion at center facing. Reverse: AMI-ΣOY, Nike advancing right, holding wreath and palm tied with fillet over left shoulder. Monogram[s] in fields, left and right. NGC identifies this coin as AE 23, however research presents some controversy as to its correct identification. Nonetheless, this piece was struck in Amisus in Asia Minor on the southern coast of the Black Sea during the rule of Mithradates VI in c. 85-65 BC.

Bust of Mithridates in the Louvre.

Mithridates, or Mithradates VI Eupator, was the ruler of the Kingdom of Pontus in northern Anatolia (Asia Minor) from 120 to 63 BC. He was among the most formidable and resolute opponents of the Roman Republic. An effective, ambitious and quite ruthless ruler, he strove to control Asia Minor and the Black Sea region. Mithridates waged several hard-fought but unsuccessful wars (the Mithridatic Wars) in an attempt to break Roman domination over Asia and the Hellenic world. History regards him as the greatest ruler of the Kingdom of Pontus. Mithridates developed an immunity to poisons by repeatedly ingesting sub-lethal doses. This practice, which has come to be called mithridatism, is named for him. After his death, he became known as Mithridates the Great.