Sinope
Historical Overview
The city of Sinope began minting coinage between 480-415 BCE. The first coins feature an eagle’s head above a dolphin on the obverse. The reverse shows an incuse square punch divided into four parts. The latter is a motif that may have derived from the reverse incuse punches of earlier electrum coins, like the four-part square incuse punches on the reverse of coins from Cyzicus (Wroth 1963, 95; Hind 1976, 5).
By the mid-5th century BCE, the image on the obverse changes to the head of the nymph, Sinope, wearing an open headdress (sphendone) inside of a dotted border. This marks the emergence of a distinctly local civic type of coinage. The reverse depicts an eagle grasping a dolphin with its talons; the Greek inscription ‘SINO’ (an abbreviation for Sinope) appears underneath the dolphin.
In the fourth century BCE, as a satrapy of the Achaemenid Empire, Sinopean coinage included the names of Persian satraps. Some coins used Aramaic script and others Greek (Wroth 1963, 96; Head 1963, 507). Contemporaneously, Sinope’s portrait gained a single-pendant earring. Its appearance is specifically attested in 364-362 BCE. Then, by 341 BCE, her portrait gains a triple-pendant earring. After 333 BCE, when Alexander defeated the Achaemenid Empire, Greek inscriptions became more common on Sinopean coinage showing the assertion of Hellenic authority in the region (Wroth 1963, 97).
Art Historical and Economic Overview
The coinage of Sinope reflects both its mythical origins and its development as a major maritime and commercial power on the southern coast of the Black Sea. In the late 8th century BCE, Sinope was initially founded by the Colchians. In the 7th century BCE, it was established as a Milesian colony. Sinope became the wealthiest emporium (trading post) in the region of the southern Euxine. Its strong naval fleet and extensive regional influence through trade contributed to its prosperity (Drews 1976, 22; Head 1963, 507).
The earliest coins were minted by Sinope around 480 BCE in the form of silver staters. They followed the broader Aeginetan weight standard. The production of this high-quality silver coinage and the use of a recognizable weight standard enabled Sinope to extend its commercial extend its trade networks farther into the Greek world. In 290 BCE, they switched from the Aeginetan to the Attic standard, which reflects the city’s decision to integrate their coinage into even broader Hellenistic monetary systems.
While Sinope used weight standards influenced by other Greek cities, they used iconography related to the local natural world and the city’s maritime identity such as the eagle and dolphin (Wroth 1963, xi; Kakhidze et. al. 2001, 284). By the mid-5th century BCE, the head of the nymph Sinope appeared on the obverse. She was considered one of the city’s mythic founders and ancient authors linked her to the myth of the Argonauts. Her stylistic features aligned with the broader classical style of the fifth century BCE. By the fourth century BCE, regional mints fused Greek and Anatolian visual traditions (Wroth 1963, xv; Wartenberg 2019, 27).
Iconography of Sinopean Coinage in the Hellenistic Period
The iconography of Sinope’s coinage changed significantly after 306 BCE. On the obverse, the nymph Sinope’s hairstyle shifted from wearing a headdress open on the top (called a ‘sphendone’) to a rolled style (like the obverse of the coin from Arados; CUAM 2014.06.217), which is connected to the pan-Hellenic worship of Tyche in the Hellenistic era (Head 1963, 508).
The imagery on coinage of Sinope diversified after 290 BCE. On the obverses, gods including Apollo, Helios, and Hermes appeared and, on the reverses, grapes, the front of a ship, and the lyre are depicted (Wroth 98-99). The inclusion of these motifs on their coinage shows how the city was being incorporated into broader Hellenistic visual koine.
Despite the addition of new motifs, the maritime theme is consistent for most of the city’s minting of its coinage. After the Pontic kings took over Sinope in 183 BCE, however, the traditional imagery disappeared; its civic imagery was replaced with images of Pallas Athena, Artemis, and gorgon heads. Nevertheless, the Greek inscription ‘SINO’—the abbreviation of Sinope—remained as the coin’s main local identification signifying from where these coins were produced.