Coin of the Month

June 2026: Between Balkan Mountains and the Danube - Nicopolis ad Istrum

The Coin of this Month is presented by Patrick Dörr

The coin of the month of june 2026 is a roman provincial coin from Nicopolis ad Istrum.

Nicopolis ad Istrum, a city founded by Emperor Trajan in today’s Bulgaria, was in antiquity part of the Roman province of Moesia. Despite issuing coins from early on, intensive minting activity did not unfold until the Severan era. This coin itself was minted during the reign of Septimius Severus, the founder of this dynasty, who is also depicted on the obverse wearing a laurel wreath and additionally named on the legend: ΑV Κ Λ ϹΕΠ ϹΕVΗΡΟϹ Π. Due to the fact that on the reverse also the responsible legatus Augusti pro praetore for the province of Moesia inferior - L. Aurelius Gallus - is named, we can narrow down the time this coin was struck. It was hence minted in the period between 201 and 204 BC. The main focus should be the reverse. A young man is sitting comfortably on a rock, wearing just a cloak on his waist. In his right hand he holds a long stab while raising his left hand over his head, which is turned around to witness the scene that takes place on the right side of the coin. A stag is trying to escape a bear. It jumps with a big leap forward, while the bear follows it by climbing on the rock. Branches with leaves in the background signal the surrounding  nature. The young man is Haimos, the personification of the Balkan mountains, on the northern slopes of which Nicopolis was founded. His name is clearly visible on the coin: AIMOC. The presence of the personification of this mountain range on the coins of Nicopolis shows how important its role was in the self-understanding of the local population of the city. Nevertheless, the river Istros (the modern Danube) played an even more important role since it served as the northern border of the Moesia province and also as an identity marker in the city's name - even if the city was not situated directly at the river itself. This can be seen in the reverse legend, which also states the origin of the coin: ΝΙΚΟΠΟΛEΙΤΩΝ // ΠΡΟϹ ΙϹΤΡ. Interestingly also personifications of the Danube can be found on coins of Nikopolis, but this is a story for another month.

Literature- B. Pick, Die antiken Münzen Nord-Griechenlands I. Die antiken Münzen von Dakien und Moesien. 1. Halbband I.I (Berlin 1898)This cointype and the particular coin:  p. 267 nr. 1315,1 - N. Hristova - H.-J. Hoeft - G. Jekov, The Coins of Moesia Inferior I.-III. c. AD: Nicopolis ad Istrum (Blagoevgrad 2012) This cointype : p. 125, nr. 8.14.43.3

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