Pharnabazus Stater

In the 370s BC, Artaxerxes II of Persia launched an attempt to retake Egypt after it rebelled against Achaemenid rule. He appointed the satrap Pharnabazus to lead the campaign. Although Pharnabazus was based far away in Dascylium, in northwestern Asia Minor, he established a secondary base in Cilicia. There, in the city of Tarsus, he minted large quantities of silver staters to fund the operation, taking advantage of the region's rich coin making resources.

Pharnabazus's coins marked a clear departure from earlier Tarsus designs. The obverse featured a three-quarter view of a woman's head, directly inspired by the famous depiction of Arethusa created by the engraver Cimon in Syracuse roughly three decades earlier. The reverse depicted a bearded, helmeted male head. While often identified as Ares, the Greek god of war, the figure might instead represent a Persian satrap as a symbol of imperial authority.