Featured Alexander, we hardly got to know ya. (Post your favorite ATG coin)

Great thread @Ryro . Alexander and those who followed him issued some interesting, and big, coins. Mine has an anchor counter stamp.

 

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Two of mine are lifetime issues, and as such are my favorites.

Price_3599 tetradrachm of Babylon:


Price_3253 obol of Tyre, dated '21' which equates to 329/328 B.C.:

 

https://tinyurl.com/y6f5s27a

Not Alexander, but another Macedonian King - Demetrius Poliorcetes. Make sure you finalize you purchase before the sale ends!



Eugene

Note to self: Re-evaluate collection value for insurance purposes....

 

How bizarre! Why is an ancient coin being sold by Touch of Modern?

The price... marked down to $3999 from $5000

 

Household insurance usually excludes coins. You need a rider to cover coins, which is quite expensive. Some people join the ANA to get their coin insurance, which is significantly cheaper. My solution is different. I keep my coins, all but a few I am working with, in the bank.

 

I really don't understand why I have so few coins of Alexander the great (while he is one of my favorite generals), and I got no coins at all of his magnificent father Philip II. Hmm, I think I really need to make a change to that.

A coin issued by my favorite diadochi:

Alexander III the Great Drachm under Antigonos I Monophthalmos (310 B.C. - 301 B.C). Kolophon mint.
Obverse: Head of beardless Herakles right, wearing lion skin
Reverse: AΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ; Zeus Aëtophoros seated left, KA monogram in left field, Φ below throne.
4,10g; 17mm

 

This tiny bronze should provide a nice break from all these large silver coins.


CARIA, Kaunos, 3rd cent BC, AE10, 1.29g (Minted under the Ptolemies)
Obv: Head of Alexander the Great right.
Rev: K and partial AY monogram; Cornucopia
Ref: Sear 4823, Lindgren and Kovacs 628

 

Acquired this one recently(-ish) from Busso Peus -- I'd been waiting patiently for a lifetime issue where the portrait possesses (to my eyes, anyway) that indescribable, probably illusory resemblance to the actual Alexander.


Alexander III the Great, c.332-326BC, O: head of Hercules in lion-skin headdress right / R: Zeus seated left, legs together, holding eagle and sceptre, [A]ΛEΞANΔPOY, shield in left field. Seller's photo.

Alexander the man I'm probably unqualified to comment on, but Mary Renault's romantic, ardent, gay Alexander is a pleasant fantasy.

 

Here we have an Alexander 'Seal Ring' with impression in wax.



and for coins we have ;
325-310 B.C. MACEDON ALEXANDER III 'The Great' Heracles with lionskin-Bow and Quiver


and
325-310 B.C. MACEDON Alexander III (The Great) SNG Cop.1185


and
325-310 B.C. MACEDON ALEXANDER III 'The Great' Heracles with lionskin-Bow, Club and Quiver

 

Forgive me, but I always thought that the image on these coins was that of 'Heracles' (Hercules) and not the image of Alexander III. Am I wrong?

 

Ooooh! Great conversation starter. I'd love to read what others think, but I've a few and seen plenty of these that I would say are, "Alexander as Herakles". Kind of like the Seleucid coins of him wearing the horns as Zeus Amon.
However, we do know that plenty of coins with that same obverese type of Herakles were made way before he was even born. Making it easy to say, "no, these are all just of Herakles."
Do I have the answer??? Mt Olympus no! But would love to know.

 

Obviously, its a new fashion trend and Touch of Modern is just ahead of the curve. Soon every up and coming household from New York to Hollywood to Singapore to London will need to have a couple of nice tetradrachms to flash around and impress the neighbors.

Yes, its still early and i have been drinking...hic.

Eugene

 

Thank you for the kind words, @cmezner. I am always fascinated by the success of Alexander. However, even as I was first learning about him through my History classes back in University, I was always intrigued by - how did he have such tremendous success while starting his 'journey' at such an early age. As I delved into his earlier life, I found that he had enormous resources left by his father, Philip II. Somehow, these enormous resources had to be developed and put into place for Alexander III to be successful. As I learned more about Philip II, it struck me that HE was the one who was the genius, even in his upbringing, educating, and preening of his son, Alexander. Do not get me wrong, Alexander was incredibly successful, and brilliant in his accomplishments. However, as I more understand Philip's life - wow, what an incredible person. Philip inherited a shattered Kingdom, on the verge of extermination by surrounding kingdoms and tribes. Not only did he fend them off to preserve his nation but he went on to do what no other Greek had been ever to do prior to his life: unify Greece under one Ruler (except Sparta, which he still politically pacified.)

Put the pieces together: Philip II developed and enabled all the tools needed for Alexander III to become Great. Had not Philip II NOT been assassinated during the prime of his life, perhaps we may had been a GREATER man in History due to his past accomplishements as well as executing his plans to extinguish the Achaemenid's World Empire. However, his greatest gift to Alexander was being a loving father (yes, they had their documented differences), that preened him, prepared him, educated him, and gave him the massive resources for Alexander to "pick up the ball" and carry it downfield for the Greatest of Wins.

Philip II Makedonwn (The Greatest):

(Bronze coins would probably be more local, transacted by the local populace, and less likely transacted in major international purchases like Tets.)

Makedon Philip II AE 18 Apollo - Youth Horseback spear hd below 359-356 BCE 18mm 6.2g SNG ANS 850-1



Makedon Philip II 359-336 BC AE 17 Horse Rider LEFT-LEFT facing scarce


Fractional AR, again, more likely to be locally transacted:


MAKEDON Philip II 1-5th Stater Apollo head r - Horseman r trident below as S6691

 

The best authorities regard the head on Alexander's tetradrachms as intended to be simply a young Hercules -- not "Alexander attired as Hercules," "Hercules with the features of Alexander," etc.

That said, there are certainly some coins where the head does resemble Alexander (or, at least, resembles the images of Alexander as have come down to us). This is interpreted as merely the whim of particular die-cutters, however, and not as the result of any kind of official policy.

There's a scholarly overview of the issue here and pages 13-21 here. The author's conclusion in the latter that the head was "a traditional type", but that "...at some times and in some places, true likenesses of the king and his commanding personality inspired the hands of his artisans" is probably a fair, cautious balance. I'd like to think so, anyway(!)

 

Images of Alexander.

 

Images of Philip II








Makedon Philip II Tet Pella LIFETIME 353-349 Zeus Horse star spearhd Le Rider 102
Philip II of Macedon lost his eye at the siege of Methone, 354 BCE

 

Love that contrasting patina, Randy! Really shows off the coin.

 

Tetradrachm, Kingdom of Macedonia, Alexander III, Amphipolis


Material: Silver
Weight: 17.11 g
Diameter: 27.00 mm
Alexander III, Tetradrachm, Amphipolis, struck by Antipater under Philip III, circa 322-320 BC, Silver, Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin,Zeus seated left on low throne, holding long scepter in his left hand and eagle standing right with closed wings in his right; to left, bow in bowcase,BAΣIΛEΩΣ AΛEΞANΔP