ON THE QUESTION OF THE DENOMINATIONS OF THE BOSPORAN COINS WITH A BUST OF POSEIDON ON THE OBVERSE AND WITH A BATTLESHIP TO THE LEFT ON THE REVERSE
Our attention was attracted by the Bosporan bronze obols with a bust of Poseidon with a trident in his right hand on the obverse and with the image of a warship sailing to the left, on which a long and wide naked sword is superimposed with a point back on the reverse. On the reverse side of these coins there are one or two eight-pointed stars. There are also known specimens without stars. These bronzes have been studied for more than a century. However, no reasons have been identified that prompted the Bosporan coins to place a different number of stars on them or do without them altogether. Explanations and the appearance on the coins of the sword over the image of the ship on the reverse were not offered. In addition, it is not clear in what order these artifacts entered circulation. During the study, it was found that the stars on the studied obolas are emission symbols. Or, more precisely, the designations of the series. The first to be issued were coins without a star on the reverse. They were minted only in Panticapaeum. Later obols with one star on the reverse side were minted. They were minted both in Panticapaeum and in Phanagoria. Moreover, they used the stamps of the capital's production.Because these coins were light and small, they were rejected by the population. As a result, they had to be removed, and instead of them, the same type of obols with two stars on the reverse of a greater weight and diameter than the bronze of the unsuccessful second series were issued. The symbolism of the coins is quite remarkable. She promoted the successes of the Pontic military contingents who saved the North-Eastern Black Sea region from the barbarians. It also testifies to the activation of the cult of Poseidon, who began to be honored as the keeper of the Pontic fleet. Taking this into account, we conclude that the issue of the studied coins took place during the period of Diophantus' campaigns or shortly after their completion.