Imitazioni ‘barbare’ e falsi moderni della monetazione imperiale macedone

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Dramma dell’Arabia imitazione delle dramme di Alessandro Magno (Triton XVII).

ARABIA, Eastern. Hagar . Abyatha. Circa 220-204 BC. AR Drachm (18mm, 4.17 g, 9h). Imitating Alexander III of Macedon. Dumat al-Jandal mint(?). Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin / Seated figure of beardless ruler left, holding reed (?) in his right from which he seems to smoke; a (in South Arabian) in left field, abyt’ (in South Arabian) to right. Huth 116; Potts 8–16 and Suppl. 1; Arnold-Biucchi, Arabian 9; HGC 10, 694. VF, toned, scratch on reverse. Extremely rare.

L'estrema rarità è confermata dalla stima ($2500) e a maggior ragione dall'hammer ($6000).

 

The coinage in the name of Abyatha in imitation of Alexander’s types consists of tetradrachms, drachms, and obols. Callot (“A new chronology for the Arabian Alexanders” in CCK ) dated this ruler to circa 220-204 BC and proposed Dumat al-Jandal on the road from the Gulf to Nabataea as the minting place. Abyatha’s last years thus coincided with the famous (Arabian) Anabasis of Antiochus III of 205 BC and the Seleucid king’s visit to Gerrha, the only account of which is preserved by Polybius (13.9.2-5). Huth and Potts (in ANJ 14, pp. 73-80) explained the surprising findspots of some of the tetradrachms (Mektepini and Gordion) with the route taken by the Seleukid army following the visit to Gerrha and the extortion of a ‘gift’ of 500 talents of silver from the Gerrhaians. In addition to the 10 drachms listed by Potts, only this coin and the specimen from the Huth collection are known to exist.

 

 

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Tetradramma dell’Arabia imitazione dei tipi dei tetra di Alessandro Magno (Triton XVI).

The Earliest Coin from Saudi Arabia.

One of Seven Known

ARABIA, Eastern. Gerrha. Circa 230-220 BC. AR Tetradrachm (28mm, 16.80 g, 1h). Imitating the types of Alexander III of Macedon. Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin / Shams, wearing tainia and chlamys, seated left on backless throne, holding eagle in his extended right hand, leaning with his left on a long staff; ΩBs ( Shams in South Arabian [Musnad]) in left field, ¬¬E$Å@dro¨ in right. Huth 106a (this coin); Arnold-Biucchi, Arabian , pl. 18, 3; Potts –; HGC 10, 697 corr. (rarity R2, not R1). EF, underlying luster. Well centered and struck from fresh dies. Of considerable historic importance and extremely rare, one of seven known, the fifth of this variety without throne back, and one of only two not in public collections.
From the Martin Huth Collection. Ex Frankfurter Münzhandlung E. Button 109 (2 December 1963), 2101 (incorrectly described).
 

Anche per il tetradramma l’estrema rarità è confermata dalla stima ($15000) e a maggior ragione dall’hammer raggiunto ($35000).

 

Martin Huth provides the following note:
 

After a first examination by Robin ("Monnaies provenant de l’Arabie du nord-est," Semitica 24 [1974], pp. 83-127) and Callot ("Les monnaies dites ‘arabes’ dans le nord du Golfe arabo-persique à la fin du IIIeme siècle avant notre ère" in: Y. Calvet & J. Gachet-Bizollon, Failaka: Fouilles Françaises 1986-1988 [Lyon: Maison de l'Orient, 1990], pp. 221-40), the tetradrachms with the full legend of Shams in South Arabian characters were examined, together with other classes of ‘Arabian Alexanders’, in 1990 by C. Arnold-Biucchi who knew of five specimens: three from the 1970 Bahrain hoard (O. Mørkholm, "New Coin Finds from Failaka" in Kuml 8 [1972], pp. 183-202; these are now in the Bahrain Museum), one in the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, and one in the Vienna collection. To these must be added the two pieces in the recently published Huth collection (Huth 106 and 106a). Two of the seven coins (Vienna and Huth 106) show the throne with a back rest, while the others lack this feature.
With D. Potts ( The Arabian Gulf in Antiquity. Vol II: From Alexander the Great to the Coming of Islam [Oxford: Oxford UP, 1990]) having convincingly established modern-day Thaj in Eastern Saudi Arabia as the site of the ancient mercantile town of Gerrha, considerable progress in the study of these and related coins has been made with Callot’s ("A New Chronology for the Arabian Alexanders" in CCK , pp. 383-402) publication of a revised chronology for the Arabian Alexanders. According to Callot, Gerrha had already been an important settlement on the trade route connecting the Gulf with South Arabia and India when the Seleukids (Seleukos I and Antiochos I) installed themselves in the north of the Gulf and founded the fortress of Ikaros/Failaka (in modern-day Kuwait). Seleukid power in the region, however, rapidly declined with the beginning of the rule of Seleukos II (246-226), and the famous rebellion of Molon in 222 (just after the accession of Antiochos III) unsettled Seleukid Mesopotamia, causing a breakdown of control over the traditional caravan routes. Gerrha thus became the leading regional power, and asserted its independence by issuing its own coins modelled on Seleukid coinage of Alexander type, but adding the name of the local supreme deity, Shams, in full. Other territories under Gerrhaean influence followed suit, with Ikaros/Failaka producing tetradrachms and obols with a vertical shin , and two otherwise unknown Arab chieftains, Abyatha and Harithat, issuing coins with their own names. Thus started the long series of Alexander imitations, most of which were produced in the name of various queens with the name of Abi’el (cf. Potts and Potts Suppl. for general study of this coinage; cf. M.C.A. Macdonald, "The ‘Abiel’ coins of Eastern Arabia: A study of the Aramaic Legends" in CCK , pp. 403-548, for Abi’el as a female ruler).
Shams/Shamash is a sun-deity of Mesopotamian origin, viewed as a male in Northeast Arabia and a female in South Arabia. While Robin, Mørkholm, Potts, Callot, and Arnold-Biucchi held differing views as to whether the seated figure actually represented the deity, Huth (“Gods and Kings: On the Imagery of Arabian Coinage” in CCK , pp. 107-24) has followed Mørkholm and Robin in associating the figure with the deity.

 

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Tetradramma di Gerrha imitazione dei tetradrammi di Alessandro Magno (CNG 389).

ARABIA, Eastern. Gerrha. Circa 150 BC. AR Tetradrachm (28.5mm, 15.19 g, 9h). Imitating the types of Alexander III of Macedon. Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin / Shams, wearing tainia and chlamys, seated left on backless throne, holding eagle in his extended right hand, leaning with his left on a long staff; Arabian šin, vertically oriented, in left field. Potts, Suppl. 14; Huth 111; Price 3958; HGC 10, 696. VF, toned. Rare, one of only three in CoinArchives.

 

 

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Altro esemplare ‘light’ di un tetradramma di Gerrha imitazione dei tetradrammi di Alessandro Magno (CNG 99).

ARABIA, Eastern. Gerrha. Circa 150 BC. AR Tetradrachm (28.5mm, 14.70 g, 10h). Imitating the types of Alexander III of Macedon. Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin / Shams, wearing tainia and chlamys, seated left on backless throne, holding eagle in his extended right hand, leaning with his left on a long staff; Arabian šin, vertically oriented, in left field. Potts, Suppl. 14; Huth 111; Price 3958; HGC 10, 696. VF, toned, a bit rough, scratches in fields. Rare, and only the second to appear at auction (see CNG 69, lot 1856, for the first).

The issues with vertical shin follow a very rare series with the full name of Shams (CCK 106f). They are tentatively attributed to the Gerhhaean kingdom in modern Saudi Arabia. Although the Bahrain hoard of 1969/70 (cf. Morkholm 1972) contained 211 coins of this type, all were accessioned into the Bahrain Museum; they are very rare in trade. With findspots as scattered as Tylos/Bahrain, the Yemeni Jawf (CCK 111f.), and Israel, these coins appear to have circulated widely. The more prolific series with horizontal Shin are attributed to the Island of Ikaros/Failaka (modern Kuwait).

 

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Tetradramma dell’Arabia imitazione dei tetradrammi di Alessandro Magno con l’Arabian šin orientato orizzontalmente (CNG 96).

ARABIA, Eastern. Ikaros/Failaka. Circa 222-204 BC. AR Tetradrachm (25mm, 16.25 g, 9h). Imitating the types of Alexander III of Macedon. Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin / Shams seated left on backless throne, holding eagle and staff; W (shin in Arabic, horizontally oriented) in left field. Huth 104–5; Arnold-Biucchi, Arabian B; Price 3957; HGC 10, 704. VF, lightly toned.

 

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Altro esemplare di tetradramma dell’Arabia imitazione dei tetradrammi di Alessandro Magno con l’Arabian šin orientato orizzontalmente (Triton XVII).

ARABIA, Eastern. Ikaros/Failaka . Circa 222-204 BC. AR Tetradrachm (26mm, 16.55 g, 9h). Imitating Alexander III of Macedon. Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin / ΛΛEΞΛΛNP, Zeus Aëtophoros seated left; W (Shin in Arabic, horizontally oriented) in left field. Huth 104–5; Arnold-Biucci, Arabian B; Price 3957; HGC 10, 704. Good VF, toned.

 

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Terzo esemplare di tetradramma dell’Arabia imitazione dei tetradrammi di Alessandro Magno con l’Arabian šin orientato orizzontalmente (CNG 102).

ARABIA, Eastern. Ikaros/Failaka . Circa 222-204 BC. AR Tetradrachm (28.5mm, 16.93 g, 1h). Imitating the types of Alexander III of Macedon. Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin / Shams seated left on backless throne, holding eagle and staff; W (Shin in Arabic, horizontally oriented) in left field. Huth 104–5; Arnold-Biucchi, Arabian B; Price 3957; HGC 10, 704. VF, toned, test cut on obverse. Rare.
From collection of Dr. Will Gordon.

 

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Esemplare della zecca di Ikaros/Failaka imitazione dei tetradrammi di Alessandro Magno con il monogramma AP nel campo a sinistra (CNG 102).

ARABIA, Eastern. Ikaros/Failaka. Circa 222-204 BC. AR Tetradrachm (27.5mm, 16.48 g, 9h). Imitating the types of Alexander III of Macedon. Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin / Shams seated left on throne, holding eagle and staff; AP monogram in left field, KΛ below throne. Unpublished, but same obverse die as the illustration of Price 3957, from the mint of Ikaros/Failaka. VF, lightly toned, a few light cleaning marks. Unique.
From collection of Will Gordon. Ex Classical Numismatic Group 73 (13 September 2006), lot 150. 

Estimate $500. Sold for $2200. Non male come risultato.

 

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Imitazione locale di un tetradramma di Seleuco I Nicatore, di una zecca incerta dell’Arachosia orientale (CNG 109).

SELEUKID EMPIRE. Seleukos I Nikator. 312-281 BC. AR Tetradrachm (24mm, 16.40 g, 12h). Local imitation. Uncertain mint in eastern Arachosia. Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin / Zeus Aëtophoros seated left; two concentric circles below throne, no legend. SC Ad14 (this coin referenced and illustrated); Miller, East 61 (this coin); cf. HGC 9, 10 (for prototype). VF, traces of find patina. 

From the MNL Collection, purchased from Russ Milleson, May 2011, who acquired it from Frank Kovacs, 2002. Ex East Arachosia (Quetta) Hoard, 2002 (CH X, 275).

 

Non sapevo dell’Arachosia, nome Greco di un’antica regione tra la Drangiana e l’Indo, corrispondente all’incirca all’odierna provincia afghana di Qandahar. Ho letto che le schiere macedoni di Alessandro Magno deformarono il nome locale che derivava da quello del fiume Harahuvatis (l’odierno Helmand) da cui è attraversata e grazie al quale era la zona più fertile dell'Afghanistan meridionale. Alessandro Magno conquistò Arachosia nel 320 a. C. e fu probabilmente il fondatore di Kahdahar, la città più grande della regione, il cui nome odierno deriva dal termine Iskander, la forma indiana per Alessandro. Con la frammentazione dell'impero di Alessandro, il controllo della zona passò ai Seleucidi.

 

Anche le imitazioni ci possono insegnare qualcosa.

 

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Imitazioni di Filippo II di Macedonia, terzo secolo a. C.: conio di ferro per tetradrammi d’argento (CNG 109).

CELTIC, Eastern Europe. Imitations of Philip II of Macedon. 3rd century BC. Iron Die for AR Tetradrachm. Dimensions: overall length, 20mm; diameter, 52 mm at face, tapering to approximately 50mm at base. Of cylindrical form. Weight: 94.05 grams. Iron face with intaglio of the obverse of a Dachreiter type tetradrachm from a mint in the Pannonian region. Cf. KMW 1106 (for obv. type). Intact, some corrosion, but in an overall excellent state of preservation. Special mint-association marking in outer margin of die face. 
Ex Gorny & Mosch 224 (13 October 2014), lot 811.

 

INTRODUCTION

Well as more common unofficial (i.e. forger’s) dies, covers a broad period of time, from the Celts to the modern era.

From the collector: For as long as there has been money there have been counterfeiters. Generally, we know this from the numerous examples of counterfeit coins that have survived. Less frequently, we have the opportunity to examine the tools of the counterfeiter – his dies. It has been estimated that there are around 100 surviving counterfeiter’s dies from ancient times. Many of these are locked away in museums and longtime collections. Rarely do any appear at auction.

The collection includes: an iron faced Celtic die; two Roman Republican dies, both with exceptional die faces; a pair of imperatorial legionary denarii dies under Marc Antony, with one again having an exceptional die face; a set of dies for an Augustan as or dupondius; a Tiberius die which may be an official Roman mint die; two hubs for Domitian denarii; a unique mold pair for a siliqua of Valens; and an exceptional die for a histamenon nomisma of Romanus II Agyros. [Note: a reverse die of a Demetrios I tetradrachm from this collection will be offered in Triton XXII in January 2019.]

Individually, the dies are all fantastic. As a group, they offer a rare look into the work of the counterfeiter during ancient times. Here can be found examples of many of the ways a forger created his counterfeits. To add to our understanding, the collection also includes a cast forgery of a Claudius As after casting, but before being refined and trimmed to be passed as currency. To complete the collection, there is a nice set of dies and obverse hub from the Karl Goetz medal “bank fraud.” Here are found both the obverse hub as well as the obverse and a pair of reverse dies created from the hubs. This set also includes a silver medal of the type struck from the dies as well as an oversized bronze medal of the same design.

 

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Imitazione contemporanea di un tetradramma di Alessandro Magno senza possibilità di identificazione del modello imitato (CNG 285).

KINGS of MACEDON. Alexander III ‘the Great’. 336-323 BC. AR Tetradrachm (26mm, 15.71 g, 9h). Contemporary imitation. Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin / Zeus Aëtophoros seated left; uncertain symbol in left field, N (retrograde) below throne. VF, toned, flaws on obverse.
The left control, and consequently the prototype, is unclear, making it difficult where to place this imitation.

 

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Possibile imitazione barbarica di una dramma di Alessandro Magno (RN 153).

Kings of Macedon. Alexander III 'The Great'. AR Drachm.
Kingdom of Macedon. Alexander III 'The Great' AR Drachm. (Barbaric imitation?) 310-275 BC. Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin / Zeus Aëtophoros seated left; amphora in left field. Price 864. 3.99g, 17mm, 8h. Unusual style, Extremely Fine.

 

Prototipo (CNG 218)

KINGS of MACEDON. Alexander III ‘the Great’. 336-323 BC. AR Drachm (18mm, 4.31 g, 6h). Uncertain mint in Greece. Struck circa 310-275 BC. Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin / Zeus Aëtophoros seated left; amphora in left field. Price 864. VF, lightly toned.

 

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Possibile imitazione di un tetradramma di Alessandro per l’N rovesciato, il peso un po’ basso e lo stile peculiare (Ira & Larry Goldberg Coins & Collectibles, Inc., Auction 81).

Macedonian Kingdom. Alexander III, the Great. Silver Tetradrachm (16.7g), 336-323 BC. Contemporary imitation. Copying Babylon, ca. 323-317 BC, or slightly later. Head of Herakles right, wearing lion's skin headdress. Reverse: AΛEΧANΔPOY (N retrograde), Zeus seated left, holding eagle and scepter; in left field, wheel. Price -, but cf. under Philip III P187-202; Hersh -. Untoned. Very Fine. 

The peculiar style, slightly low weight, and retrograde N in the legend all point to this coin be an unofficial issue rather than a unique variety in the name of Alexander.

Estimated Value $400 – 500, realized price 420 USD.

 

 

 

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Possibile prototipo dell’imitazione precedente (CNG 87).

UNCERTAIN EAST. Circa 320-280 BC. AR Tetradrachm (27mm, 17.12 g, 5h). In the name and types of Alexander III of Macedon. Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin / Zeus Aëtophoros seated left; wheel in left field. Unpublished, but cf. Price P187-202 for wheel symbol on official issues from Babylon mint. Good VF, toned, minor marks.

Lot: 682. Estimate $500. Sold for $575. 

 

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Possibile imitazione di un’emidramma di Alessandro Magno (Savoca Numismatik 9).

Kings of Macedon. Uncertain mint. Alexander III "the Great" 336-323 BC.
Hemidrachm AR
13mm., 2,03g.
Head of Herakles right, wearing lion's skin headdress / [BAΣIΛEΩΣ in exergue], AΛEΞAÎΔP[OY], Zeus seated left, holding eagle and scepter; in left field M.
fine
Price -; Hersh -

 

 

 

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Unidentified Alexanders: tetradramma di Antioco II Gonata della Balkan Area Hoard 1900 (CNG 324, lot 65).

KINGS of MACEDON. Antigonos II Gonatas. 277/6-239 BC. AR Tetradrachm (29mm, 16.88 g, 9h). In the name and types of Alexander III. Amphipolis mint. Struck circa 277/6-275 BC. Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin / Zeus Aëtophoros seated left; in left field, [crescent] and two monograms; monogram below throne. U. Wartenberg & J.H. Kagan, “Some comments on a new hoard from the Balkan area,” Travaux Le Rider, p. 398, 64-71 (unidentified Alexanders); Price 614. Near VF, lightly toned, countermark on obverse, test cut on reverse. Ex 1990s Balkan Area Hoard (CH IX, 196).

The 1990s Balkan Area Hoard consisted of 78 official Hellenistic tetradrachms and 20 Celtic imitations, including the following: Philip II (2), Celtic imitations of Philip II (17) and Alexander III (1), various issues in the name of Alexander III (50), Philip III (1), Demetrios Poliorketes (3), Lysimachos (11), Seleukos I (4), Antiochos I (5), Antiochos II (1), Eumenes of Pergmon (3), and the Thracian king Orsoaltios (1). The exact findspot of the hoard is unknown, but a location in Serbia or western Romania seems likely. The latest datable coins would seem to indicate a burial around 240 BC, although this is complicated by the Celtic issues. The composition of the hoard is similar to other hoards from the Balkans (see Wartenberg & Kagan p. 395, note 1), and sheds light on the circulation of Hellenistic coins in the region. It also demonstrates a complex system of applying test cuts and countermarks.Forty-three of the official Hellenistic coins from the hoard carry a trefoil-shaped countermark combined with one or more test cuts; the cuts typically appearing at the back or top of the head on the obverse and the countermark on the cheek, chin, or neck area. The combination of the two and the fact that the cuts never run over the countermark may suggest a two-step process in testing the coinage. While we may not fully understand the significance of this process, as noted in the publication of the hoard (p. 407): “What we do know is that the cuts and countermarks were part of a sophisticated and controlled process and not just the reduction of these coins into bullion by a barbarian people.”For additional coins from the hoard, see lots 19, 24-26, 32, 44, 50, 52, 54-56, 60-61, 63-64, 66-67, 172-180, 214-218, and 668.

 

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Unidentified Alexanders: tetradramma di Seleuco I Nicatore della Balkan Area Hoard 1900 (CNG 324, lot 172).

SELEUKID KINGS of SYRIA. Seleukos I Nikator. 312-281 BC. AR Tetradrachm (28mm, 16.90 g, 12h). In the name and types of Alexander III of Macedon. Babylon I mint. Struck circa 311-300 BC. Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin / Zeus Aëtophoros seated left; in left field, MI above lion’s head left; monogram within wreath below throne. U. Wartenberg & J.H. Kagan, “Some comments on a new hoard from the Balkan area,” Travaux Le Rider, p. 398, 64-71 (unidentified Alexanders); Price 3759; SC 82.3c; HGC 9, 10f. Fine, toned, test cut and countermark on obverse, test cut and punch on reverse. Ex 1990s Balkan Area Hoard (CH IX, 196).

 

 

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Unidentified Alexanders: tetradramma di Seleuco I Nicatore della Balkan Area Hoard 1900 (CNG 324, lot 175).

SELEUKID KINGS of SYRIA. Seleukos I Nikator. 312-281 BC. AR Tetradrachm (26mm, 16.81 g, 3h). In the name and types of Alexander III of Macedon. Babylon I mint. Struck circa 311-300 BC. Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin / Zeus Aëtophoros seated left; monogram within wreath in left field, MI below throne. U. Wartenberg & J.H. Kagan, “Some comments on a new hoard from the Balkan area,” Travaux Le Rider, p. 398, 64-71 (unidentified Alexanders); cf. Price 3747; SC 82.5b; HGC 9, 10f. Near VF, lightly toned, two test cuts and countermark on obverse, test cut on reverse. Ex 1990s Balkan Area Hoard (CH IX, 196).

 

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Unidentified Alexanders: tetradramma di Seleuco I Nicatore della Balkan Area Hoard 1900 (CNG 324, lot 176).

SELEUKID KINGS of SYRIA. Seleukos I Nikator. 312-281 BC. AR Tetradrachm (25mm, 16.82 g, 6h). In the name and types of Alexander III of Macedon. Babylon I mint. Struck circa 311-300 BC. Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin / Zeus Aëtophoros seated left; monogram within wreath in left field, H below throne. U. Wartenberg & J.H. Kagan, “Some comments on a new hoard from the Balkan area,” Travaux Le Rider, p. 398, 64-71 (unidentified Alexanders); Price 3704; SC 82.6; HGC 9, 10f. Near VF, toned, test cut and countermark on obverse, test cut on reverse. Ex 1990s Balkan Area Hoard (CH IX, 196).

 

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Imitazione contemporanea di un tetradramma babilonese di Alessandro Magno (CNG 347).

KINGS of MACEDON. Alexander III ‘the Great’. 336-323 BC. AR Tetradrachm (25mm, 15.46 g, 4h). Contemporary imitation of Babylon mint issue, circa 324/3 BC. Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin / Zeus Aëtophoros seated left; M in left field, A below throne. Cf. Price B31a for similar style. VF, lightly toned.

347, Lot: 105. Estimate $200. Sold for $180. 

 

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Tetradramma di Alessandro (15,06 g, 26 mm, asse h 9) imitazione del Price 3692 della zecca di Babilonia (collezione ANS http://numismatics.org/collection/1952.142.540 ).

 

 

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Prototipo tetradramma di Alessandro Price 3692 della zecca di Babilonia (NAC 100).

Greek Coinage
Alexander III, 336-323 and posthumous issues. Tetradrachm, Babylon 323-317, AR 17.11 g. Head of Heracles r., wearing lion's skin headdress. Rev. Zeus seated l. on throne, holding eagle and sceptre; in inner l. field, M and below throne, ΛY. Price 3692.
Old cabinet tone and about extremely fine.

 

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Altro tetradramma di Alessandro (14,13 g, 27 mm, asse h 9) imitazione del Price 3692 della zecca di Babilonia (Museo di Berlino https://ikmk.smb.museum/object?id=18252587 )

 

 

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Tetradramma suberato di Seleuco I Nicatore coniato in nome di Alessandro Magno nella zecca di Babilonia I (CNG 224).

SELEUKID KINGS of SYRIA. Seleukos I Nikator. 312-281 BC. Fourrée Tetradrachm (25mm, 15.40 g, 8h). Babylon I mint. Struck in the name of Alexander III of Macedon, circa 311-300 BC. Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin / Zeus Aëtophoros seated left; MI in left field; below throne, monogram within wreath. Cf. SC 82.4a; cf. Price 3751. Good VF, scratch on reverse, core visible below eagle, otherwise the plating is very well preserved.

224, Lot: 257. Estimate $200. Sold for $370. 

 

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Tetradramma che unisce due caratteristiche della monetazione di Alessandro nella zecca di Arado, l’albero di palma e il monogramma AB (Gemini XI): tarda emissione regolare o imitazione militare con variazione delle prime emissioni ufficiali?

Macedonian Kingdom. Alexander III The Great. 245-215/4 BC. Tetradrachm, 16.93g. (h). Obv: Head of Herakles right wearing lion-skin headdress. Dotted border. Rx: ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡ[ΟΥ] Zeus enthroned left, holding eagle and scepter. In left field, AB monogram above palm tree. Apparently unpublished; cf. Price 3365-3404, for the monogram cf. Price 3344. About EF.

This puzzling coin combines two features of the Alexander coinage of the city of Aradus, the palm-tree symbol and the AB monogram. While the style of our coin matches the late 3rd century issues of Arados, the AB monogram is a revival of a late 4th century issue. Since the Aradian AP monogram is missing under the throne of Zeus, it is not clear whether this is a late regular issue or rather a military imitation varying the earlier official issues.