The “Black Sea” Tetradrachm Hoard

The “Black Sea” hoard, an important deposit of 434 tetradrachms, is published here for the first time. It contains Alexander tetradrachms, including many from Callatis, Cabyle, Dionysopolis, Mesembria, and Odessus, as well as Lysimachi and Seleucid coins. The chronology of the Lysimachi of Byzantium and Chalcedon is reassessed, so that some varieties formerly dated towards the end of the century can now be placed earlier between 230 and 225 BC. The lack of countermarked coinage in this hoard leads the authors to propose that the countermarks so well known from the Büyükçekmece hoard were not introduced until shortly before 220 BC. The most prominent Seleu- cid variety in the hoard is a group of closely related issues of Antiochus II and Antiochus Hierax distinguished by the letters ΙΣ, which the authors attribute to Istrus. The authors date the hoard’s burial ca. 225–223 BC.