The period of Mithradates VI Eupator in the light of the coins

The brightest period of Pontic Kingdom which one the kingdoms made the basis of rich culture of Anatolia was the period of Mithradates VI Eupator. The subject of the thesis is investigating and commenting on the trade, economic, politics and religion of the period via the iconography on the coins. Additionally, the coinage of the neighbouring and incorporated areas of the Pontic Kingdom was also investigated. The aim is to revaluate the period of Mithradates VI Eupator by commenting the iconography on the coins. The subject is the Pontic coins of Mithradates VI Eupator period, so the area investigated is the Pontic Kingdom and the period is 120-63 BC. The method of the thesis is to investigate the interactions of the coins and historical events in their periods. The results of this are taken as scientific outcomes and comments. As a conclusion of the thesis, it can be said that the most of the coins were minted in Amysos and the stuff responsible of minting coins in the Pontic kingdom were connected with the Amysos Mint. The monograms seen on Amysos mints are seen on many mints of different kingdoms including Bosphoros. The minting stuff of gold and silver coins also most probably had different status. The drahmas which were uncommon in Pontic Kingdom were minted at Pergamon and this shows the respect of Mithradates for not disturbing the economies of incorporated areas. The end of minting stater after Dardaneaia Peace was the result of Roman imperial policy. The types of permitted city coins have bear the same typical and this show the power of central authority. The addition of 8 more mints to the 4 existing mints was related to the war strategy of Mithradates VI Eupator. It might also be aside that the common Mithras depictions were the propaganda for combining the Anatolian folks on a new religion. The future increases of the researches in the Black Sea region will help to understand the unknown parts of the Pontic kingdom and especially the period of Mithradates VI Eupator. Key Words: 1.Mithradates 2.Pontos 3.Sikke 4.Karadeniz 5.Hellenistik