TYPE Ancient Greece, Kingdom of Bithynia, Prusias II (ca. 185-149 BC), bronze AE18
DESCRIPTION .
Obv: King's head to right, wearing winged diadem
Rev: Herakles standing to left, holding club and lion skin; Greek inscription VASILEOS PROUSIOU ("of King Prusias"; partial) on either side of him
REFERENCE: SG 7268
GRADING: AVF / F, dark green patina
ORDER INFO: G2643, $24
The Hellenistic Bithynian kingdom was founded around 265 BC by leaders of a tribe originally from Thrace that had crossed the Bosphorus; its capital city of Nikomedia (named after one of them) was to be of great importance even after the kingdom was formally bequeathed to the Romans in 74 BC, including Byzantine times. King Prusias II, though, was not a popular ruler due to his subservience to the Romans, and finally met a violent death.