TYPE Ancient Greece, Kingdom of Bithynia, Prusias II (ca. 185-149 BC), bronze AE18 DESCRIPTION . Obv: King's head to right, wearing winged diadem Rev: Herakles standing to left, holding club and lion skin; Greek inscription VASILEOS PROUSIOU ("of King Prusias"; partial) on either side of him REFERENCE: SG 7268 GRADING: AVF / F, dark green patina ORDER INFO: G2643, $24 The Hellenistic Bithynian kingdom was founded around 265 BC by leaders of a tribe originally from Thrace that had crossed the Bosphorus; its capital city of Nikomedia (named after one of them) was to be of great importance even after the kingdom was formally bequeathed to the Romans in 74 BC, including Byzantine times. King Prusias II, though, was not a popular ruler due to his subservience to the Romans, and finally met a violent death.