A HOARD OF 3rd-4th CENTURIES AD BOSPORAN STATERS FROM PHANAGORIA (2011)
The paper is a preliminary publication of a big hoard of 3rd-4th centuries AD Bosporan staters found in 2011 at the eastern necropolis of Phanagoria by the members of Institute of Archaeology RAS Phanagorian expedition. The hoard consists of 3695 coins of Ininthimeus, Rhescuporis V, Pharsanzes, Sauromates IV, Teiranes and Thothorses. It includes many rare and unique pieces, such as a AD 266 stater of Teiranes, AD 257 and AD 275 staters of Rhescuporis, barbarian imitations of Thothorses' staters, etc. The biggest and the most representative of all known late Bosporan hoards, this complex reflects vividly the historical context and sheds new light on economics, coinage and money circulation of the Bosporus during its turbulent period of the mid-3rd - early 4th century BC. It was not by chance that the hoard was hidden in AD 308, in the situation of political instability on the Bosporus caused by the pressure of barbarian world on ancient North Pontic states and the borders of the Roman Empire.