Discovery of a Panticapaeum Coin at the Shestovytsya Early Medieval Settlement

The appearance of iron age coins in later archaeological contexts is not a unique occurrence. In Eastern Europe, such finds are predominantly ancient Roman coins, with ancient Greek coin finds usually being reported in unverified sources. Of particular rarity are finds of Bosporan Kingdom; coins in the forest and forest-steppe zones of Eastern Europe. This article present a Panticapaeum copper found within a possible early medieval context of the Shestovytsya settlement, Chernihiv region, Ukraine. It discusses the distribution of Panticapaeum and other coins from the Northern Black Sea Greek cities in Eastern Europe. The article goes on to present other finds from Shestovystya that were found out of their expected context. The authors suggest two theories on the possible means of deposition of the coin: in the iron age, during the Milograd culture stage of the Shestovytsya settlement; and in the middle ages, as a souvenir of Rus trade or military missions.