in a style similar with portrayals of Alexander. His coinage shows the late Pontic style that abandoned oriental tradition of non-idealized portrayals of kings. The new style is closer of common Hellenistic coinage. The most common image in his coinage, in various denominations, was a grazing animal together with a star and a crescent. Ivy leaves and grapes were also included to the scene. Pegasi and stags are two animals appearing in his coins. It has been suggested that after the Kingdom of Pontus expanded westward under his reign, the pegasus was abandoned and coins with a stag started to appear. This change would have been politically motivated as the pegasus would have been too closely associated with Persia. Mithridates VI did include in certain coins scenes about the myth of Perseus to emphasize his dual ancestry between Greece and Persia. Appian claimed that Perseus was an ancestor of Alexander the Great, while Herodotus thought Perseus as a Persian. The First and Second Mithridatic Wars were preceded with heavy minting. However, after the second war all minting ceased. During the wars between Rome and Pontus Mithridates VI funded his military campaigns by introducing new materials for coinage. Copper and brass coinage appeared as new financial sources for the Pontic state. Romans later exploited, during monetary reforms of Augustus in 23 BC, the wide circulation of these new forms of currency. Both materials are useful for overvalued coinage. Pure copper coinage may have been meant to partly substitute silver coinage. It is also possible that copper coins were meant for use in the region of Cimmerian Bosporus. Brass coinage Brass is an alloy that was used relatively rarely in ancient times. Phrygia is the only region with a recorded regular use of brass from antique. Previously it was thought that Romans were the first to make brass coinage. Specimens contemporary with Julius Caesar and Augustus are known. Research conducted in 1970s revealed that brass was used half a century earlier than previously thought. Phrygia and Bithynia are known sources for Pontic brass coinage. Pontic brass coins were struck during the reign of Mithridates VI, and he can be regarded as the first ruler to make use of brass. Modern analyzes have revealed that some of his bronze coins are in fact made from brass. One study that analyzed Pontic and Celtic brass coins found out that selenium is an important impurity