Tauric Chersonese Pantikapaion. Gold Stater circa 340-325 BC. Head of bearded Pan left with goat's ear and hair adorned with ivy / ΠAN Griffin left, on a corn ear. 9,06g. Anohin 109; Dittrich 101; Gulbenkian 588; Kraay-Hirmer 440; SNG BM 867. A superb specimen. Provenance: NGSA 8 (24 November 2014), 32. Colonists from Miletos founded Pantikapaion circa 600 BC to gain access to agricultural wealth of the Crimea, which was one of the main sources of grain for Athens. The gold staters were struck according to the heavy Euboean standard. They were equivalent to 1½ Aegina Drachmas or 1 Cyzicus electrum Stater: the aim was to provide the prosperous Black Sea city with a coinage that would enable it to assert its growing commercial power. The staters of Pantikapaion are among the most beautiful and sought-after of all Greek gold coins. They represent the head of Pan, an obvious play on the name of the city, and a griffin, the legendary guardian of the Scythian gold mines depicted as a lion-bodied monster with powerful legs and claws.