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Jahrbuch f. Numismatik u. Geldgeschichte 37/38, 1987 / 88 31PETER F. DORCEY(Oakland, N.J./USA)The Posthumous Alexander Tetradrachms of Odessos(Plate 5, 2 Tables)Odessos, a Greek town on the western coast of the Black Sea (modern Varna,Bulgaria), posthumously issued a series of tetradrachms in the narre ofAlexander the Great during the Hellenistic period. This coinage has neuerbeen studied carefully before. M.J. Price sketched a rough chronology forsome of the names of the officials appearing on this series; however, hisdating cannot be accepted in many instances.' Based on a die study of theOdessos tetradrachms in the American Numismatic Society (New York) andin other collections and auction catalogues, I offer a revised list andchronology of these moneyer-magistrates.2 Since so little is known aboutHellenistic Odessos, any information from numismatic sources about the city'seconomic and political development cannot be ignored.3Odessos' Alexander tetradrachms, like those of nearby Messembria andCallatis and many other cities throughout the Greek world, represent a reactionagainst the royal coinages of the time. They convey a political messageof autonomy after decades of foreign rule. By 341 BC Odessos was conqueredby Philip II (Jordanes, Getica 10, 65). What conditions were imposedon the inhabitants by the Macedonian king are unknown, but the city mightwell have been granted some limited measure of independence because of itsremote location. In 313, however, Lysimachus besieged and captured thetown (Diodorus 19, 73, 3), ending any degree of self-rule. By 302 a garrisonwas even introduced into the city under Pleistarchus, a commander ofCassander, allied at that time to Lysimachus (Diodorus 20, 112, 2). Only afterSeleucus' victory over Lysimachus in 281 did Odessos and other cities on theBlack Sea Coast assert their independence, reflected in their new Alexander' M.J. Price, „Mithradates VI Eupator, Dionysus, and the Coinages of the Black Sea," NC8 (1968) 6-7, 11. See also B. Pick and K. Regling, Die antiken Münzen Nord-Griechenlands(Berlin 1910) vol. 1. 2. 1, 519-540; T. Gerassimov, „Beitrag zur Münzkunde von Odessos,"Bulletin de la societe archeologique a Varna 11 (1960) 59-69 (Russian with summary in German).2Unless otherwise noted, all coins referred to are in the trays of the American NumismaticSociety (New York). Many obverse dies of the Alexander tetradrachm series from Odessosare represented in this extensive collection. I would like to thank the Tate Dr. Nancy Waggoner,former Curator of Greek Coins at the American Numismatic Society, for her helpfuladvice and assistance with this article.3On the history of Odessos see: E. Diehl, „Odessos," RE 17, 2 (1937) 1883-1886; C.M.Danov, „Philippopolis, Serdica, Odessos," ANRW II. 7. 1 (1979) 281-300.