I don't know what resources to look for reguarding greek coins, I'm unsure when my coin was struct or if this is a posthumous mint or a life time mint of Alexander III. I bought it slabbed by NGC off eBay and NGC stated it is a life-time issue coin during Alexander III's lifetime but I read some information here that if Zeus's legs are crossed in the reverse then it is a Post-Humous issue. This coin is 17mm and weighs 4.19 g. Here is the NGC page for the coin. Some upclose pics, Any information on when it was struct or whether it was during or after Alexander III's lifetime would be greatly appreciated!
The legs on your coin are not crossed. Further, there are some with crossed legs that are also lifetime. This is your coin: Alexander III 'the Great'. 336-323 BC. AR Drachm. Lampsakos mint. Lifetime issue, struck circa 328-323 BC. Obv: Head of Herakles right, wearing lion's skin Rev: ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ, Zeus seated left; Demeter standing facing, holding two torches in left field; monogram below throne. Price 1356; ADM II, Series V, 46-82a. VF. Contrary to Price, some auction houses identify the small figure as Artemis Phosphoros.
Unbelievable! Thanks! I guess you already know the style and the variations in this design. Thanks again!
Welcome to Coin Talk! I often have luck attributing Alexander-type drachms with a basic Google Image search. In this case I saw torches. The search Alexander drachm torch pulled up a bunch of images, in the first row was a Vcoin match (which @PeteB already found): https://www.vcoins.com/en/stores/ro...demeter_torches_lampsakos/894242/Default.aspx A little further down the page was this one: https://www.ancientcointraders.com/greek-alexander-great-drachm-lifetime-issue-p-127.html The key is to figure out the symbols on the reverse, which can be tough!
Thanks, I sorta found a match on my coin somewhere on a finished auction, The arrow symbol under Zeus and the figure to the left of Zeus! Maybe there will be a reference we can use to cite ancient Greek coins in the future.
I have one like yours! According to my auction listing, the magistrate who issued these was apparently Kalas or Demarchos, whoever they were.
There are many, many different references for Greek coins, including the British Museum Collection (BMC) and the many different volumes of the Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum (SNG). For coins of Alexander the Great the main reference is "Coinage in the Name of Alexander the Great" by Martin Price.
All coins with Alexander's name on them were arranged by Martin Price, and organization has been put online with examples from the museum collections of the world. @PeteB gave you the Price reference number, and if you put that on the end of the URL it becomes a link that will let you find out more: http://numismatics.org/pella/id/price.1356 Or just type in the Price number into the search box at http://numismatics.org/pella/
