The meaning behind the inverted faces of Istros

Hello!

Quick question — this has been bothering me for a while and I haven’t found a good answer to it.

What is the meaning/symbolism behind the obverse designs of some coins from Istros? The two faces with one of them inverted, I mean. It’s not quite janiform, and though it slightly resembles the Greek drama masks, not quite either. Was it a civil symbol, or of mythological origin, or something else entirely?

Hello,

It's a very interesting question. There are many theories on the meaning of the antiparallel heads:
- the Dioskuri Kastor and Polydeukes;
- a local commerce god symbolising the opposite directions of trade;
- the sun god Apollo symbolizing the rising and setting sun;
- a river-god Ister (Danube) symbolising the channels of the Danube, which splits as it flows in the Black sea;
- a wind god blowing in opposite directions;
- some other local deity;
- a solar eclipse from 434 BC. Have a look at this article:
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/2005JHA....36...21S

...and probably many more theories. Hard to know what was going on two and a half millennia ago.

Best
strato

Thank you so much! That makes a lot of sense as to why I couldn't find an answer, and all of the theories sound almost equally convincing to me. What an interesting type!