Hello,
I would like to request the addition of a new issuer:
- the name of the issuer in English (and if possible also in French and Spanish)
En: Cyzicus
Fr: Cyzique
Sp: Cícico
It should be under Roman Provinces > Asia (Province) > Cyzicus (Conventus) > Cyzikus (City)
- its Wikidata code (for example, Q854 for Sri Lanka)
Q615449
- if there are no entries yet on Numista, the link to an auction site or a reference catalogue presenting at least one coin or banknote from this issuer
- if they already exist in the catalogue, the link of one or more Numista records that you want to classify under this issuer
- if necessary, the list of other issuers to be linked by “see also” links (for example the Holy Roman Empire is linked to the Carolingian Empire)
Kyzikos (Mysia)
- if possible, a brief introduction presenting the history of this issuer with any numismatic considerations useful to the reader
Cyzicus was an ancient Greek town in Mysia in Anatolia, in the modern-day Balıkesir Province of Turkey. According to legend, the city was founded by Pelasgians from Thessaly, at the coming of the Argonauts, around 1300 BC. Around 756 BC, it received colonists from Miletus, and its importance began near the end of the Peloponnesian War when the conflict centred on the sea routes connecting Greece to the Black Sea. Like the other Greek cities in Asia, it fell under the rule of the Persia Empire until Alexander the Great captured it in 334 BC. In 74 BC, the city, allied with Rome, withstood a siege by 300 000 men led by King Mithridates VI of Pontus. The siege was raised by Lucullus. The loyalty of the city was rewarded by an extension of territory and the recognition of its municipal independence, being the leading city of Northern Mysia as far as Troas. The independence of Cyzikus lasted until the time of Emperor Tiberius, when it was incorporated into the Roman Empire as the capital of Mysia (and later Hellespontus).
Cyzikus issued provincial bronzes starting with the rule of Augustus and continued to strike coins well into the Byzantine era. Its mintmarks were C, CM, CVZ (sometimes with the Z reversed), CVZIC, K, KVZ, MC, MK, MKV, or SMK.
