Pantikapaion, a Milesian colony established in the late 7th century BCE on the western shore of the Cimmerian Bosporos (modern Crimea), flourished due to its access to abundant fisheries and its role as a key exporter of wheat from the region. This prosperity was reflected in its remarkable gold coinage, introduced in the mid-4th century BCE, and the lavishly adorned rock tombs of its elite.

Pantikapaion’s coinage began with silver issues in the 5th century BCE but is best known for its exquisite gold staters, which depict the god Pan, a playful pun on the city’s name, and a griffin, symbolizing wealth and power.

The gold staters of Pantikapaion are celebrated for their artistry, featuring a strikingly powerful head of Pan on the obverse and a griffin on the reverse, standing atop a grain of wheat—an allusion to the city's agricultural wealth. The griffin, described by Herodotus as a guardian of gold, embodies a mythos likely inspired by the Scythian culture and their mining activities in Central Asia. Fossil discoveries of Protoceratops, a lion-sized, beaked dinosaur resembling a griffin, may have influenced ancient depictions of this mythical creature. The Pantikapaion staters exemplify the mastery of Greco-Scythian artistry, with engravings that parallel the intricate craftsmanship seen in Scythian gold artifacts unearthed in the region.

Pantikapaion’s strategic and economic significance extended beyond its coinage, as it became central to regional power struggles. By 480 BCE, it had risen to prominence as the capital of the Bosporan Kingdom under the Spartokid dynasty, reaching its zenith during the reign of Pairisades I (344/3–311/0 BCE). The city’s gold staters, struck over a generation, transitioned from local weight standards to the Attic standard, aligning with the broader Mediterranean trade. These coins not only symbolized the wealth and influence of Pantikapaion but also reflected its integration into the cultural and economic networks of the ancient world, leaving a legacy celebrated in numismatic and archaeological studies.

CIMMERIAN BOSPOROS, Pantikapaion. Circa 380-370 BC. AV Stater (19mm, 9.08 g, 1h). Head of Pan left / Griffin standing left, head facing, holding spear in its mouth, left forepaw raised, on grain ear left; Π-A-N around. Anokhin 1001; MacDonald 31; HGC 7, 17; SNG BM Black Sea 855; Gulbenkian 580–1; Jameson 2144 (this coin)

Ex Black Sea Collection (Nomos 13, 7 October 2016), lot 149; Guermantes Collection (Leu 86, 5 May 2003), lot 307; Robert Jameson Collection (sold privately Dr. J. Hirsch); Grand Duke Alexander Mikailovitch Collection (sold privately by Spink).