Coins from the Necropolis of Phanagoria (1975— 2021 Excavations)

Abstract

The article discusses 128 coins from the 1975—2021 excavations at the necropolis of Phanagoria. The numismatic material is an important chronological indicator for both the dating of burials and the periodization of the Phanagorian necropolis’ history as a whole. Apart from five silver Bosporan coins dated from the fifth to first centuries BC, as well as a single denarius of Trajan and two staters of Rhescuporis V, all the remaining coins are made of copper. Of the 95 autonomous period’s coins, 66 were minted in Panticapaeum (including a purse of 7 coins), 26 in Phanagoria, 1 in Olbia, 2 in Amisus. Thirty coins belong to the Bosporan rulers, from Polemo I before Thothorses, whose coins are the latest Bosporan coins. Apart from two coins of Mithradates III and Cotys I, with borings, as well as a pair of pierced coins of Theodosius I used as pendants amidst beads, all other coins are “obols of Charon”, providing important evidence of both the funerary rite and the currency of the era.