Obverse: Head of the Nymph Sinope Facing Lef
Reverse: Sea-eagle with Wing Spread Standing Upon the Back of a Dolphin
Paphlagonia was an ancient country in Northern Asia Minor (modern Turkey), between Bithynia and Pontus on the Black Sea coast. A mountainous district with the Halys as its chief river, Paphlagonia had a string of Greek colonies along its coast, the most important being Sinope. The seaport city of Sinope, strategically located in the center of the Southern border of the Black Sea shores, was the dominant commercial force of the region. Sinope thrived as the terminus for all the valuable Eastern trade routes of goods headed westward, bound for the Greek Empire. As the gateway to Greece, the destiny of Sinope was interlinked with the fate of Athens. When Rome became the dominant force in the west, trade routes were diverted through the Roman ports of Ephasus and Antioch, signaling the immanent decline of Sinope.
How many hands have touched a coin in your pocket or purse? What eras and lands have the coin traversed on its journey into our possession? As we reach into our pockets to pull out some change, we rarely hesitate to think of who might have touched the coin before us, or where the coin will venture to after it leaves our hands. More than money, coins are a symbol of the state that struck them, of a specific time and location, whether contemporary currencies or artifacts of a long forgotten empire. This stunning hand-struck coin reveals an expertise of craftsmanship and intricate sculptural detail that is often lacking in contemporary machine-made currencies. This magnificent coin is a memorial to the ancient glories of Sinope passed down from the hands of civilization to civilization, from generation to generation.