On the question of the method for identifying replicas to Bosporan staters: on the example of the coins of Theothorses of 582 B. E.

Abstract

Abstract. One of the most serious problems facing numismatists studying the coinage of the late Bosporus is the identification of replicas of the official coinage money. The problem is that there are still no generally accepted criteria for distinguishing imitations from original coins. Trying to approximate the solution of this problem, consider the Theothorses staters on which the symbolic designation of the date 582 BE is placed. We believe that all these coins are genuine official mintage. They were released at the beginning of Theothorses reign. Most likely, they were minted in the center of his domain in a nomadic headquarters located in the Central Ciscaucasia. But it is unlikely that they were released for only 1 year. We assume that these coins have been issued for much longer. It is quite possible those 2–3 years. This circumstance can explain the variety of their types manifested in the spread and rearrangement of letters in the symbolic designations of the date of issue in the horizontal reflection of the images of the Bosporan king and the Roman emperor, while maintaining the same errors in the legend of the obverse. We conclude that errors of this kind in legends may not always be regarded as signs of a replica.