Alexander's the Great staters

I think everyone of ancient coins collectors dreams about Alexander's the Great stater. Also I'm too, and hopes to find a babylonian stater with curly hairstyle for many years. My favorite type. Just now I was lucky and buy this stater also with a fantastic bonuse. This is not a babylonian stater with standing Nike, but probably stater from Side (?) with walking Nike and blowed by the wind dress. And yes, here is a great curly hairstyle Athena with a griffin on helmet.

Please, post your favorite Alexander's coins.

 

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Beautiful coin! Highest artistic style. Congratulations!

 

Alexander staters are cool-looking coins, @I_v_a_n.
Congrats on your new pickup!

I also like this coin type a lot, since I saw an example in a museum display.
I ended up getting this one last year. Not perfect, but I like the griffin head control mark.

 

Both Great staters, but to rich for my blood.
Got an Alexander Tet from Side

 

WoWiE!!! I'm all sorts of peanut butter and jealous
An amazing coin in wonderful shape. High on my bucket list
A few ATG favorites of mine

And a good image of the man from half a millenia after his death:

 

Very nice one

 

Stunning coin! I'm not sure if I'll ever pick up an Alexander stater.

These are the lifetime coins I have from Alexander.

Alexander the Great
Tetradrachm AR 24 mm, 16.80 g, 7 h
Susa, struck under Koinos, circa 324-323 BCE.
Price 3829
Ex Leu​

Kingdom of Macedon, Alexander III 'the Great'
AR Tetradrachm 16.68g, 27mm, 2h
Struck under Stamenes or Archon
Babylon, circa 324/3 BCE
Price 3599; Müller 670.
Ex Roma​

Alexander the Great
AR Drachm 16mm, 4.21 g, 12h
Abydos mint. Struck under Kalas or Demarchos, circa 325-323 BCE
Price 1503; ADM II Series I
Ex CNG​

Alexander the Great
AR Drachm 16mm, 4.27 g, 12h
Miletos mint. Struck under Philoxenos, circa 325-323 BCE
Price 2090; ADM I Series I. graffito in field on reverse
Ex CNG​

Bucephalos
Uncertain Macedonian mint, circa 336-323 BC.
Diademed head of male to right / Horse galloping to right, AΛEΞAN[ΔPOV] above, A[I?] below.
Price 363. 3.34g, 16mm, 3h.
Ex Roma​

And, on its way...

Alexander III 'the Great' AR Diobol. 'Amphipolis', circa 336-323 BC
Young head of Herakles to right, wearing lion skin headdress / ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ, two eagles standing facing one another on thunderbolt.
Price 155; HGC 3.1, 906. 1.32g, 11mm, 3h.​

 

Well, I only have one Alexander, it may not be the best but it is mine. I like to think Alexander gave it to Roxanne to go buy some bagels

 

@I_v_a_n and @happy_collector both very nice AV staters. I haven't yet found a stater I liked at the price I was willing to pay (perhaps I'm stingy ) but these 1/4 staters are also quite difficult to come by:

 

I did however, manage to get me this Bithynia, Calchedon c.Late 3rd Century B.C. AV Stater, in the name and type of Lysimachus with diademed head of deified Alexander III, wearing horn of Ammon. Quality of the photos don't do it justice. The reverse appealed to me more than the obverse:

 

My favourite tet is this one from the Kingdom of Thrace, Lysimachus:

 

I love that coin

 

Sorry to disappoint you but this did not happen : it is a posthumous tetradrachm of Alexander. It was more probably given to some young Greek mercenary enlisting in Antigonus the One-Eyed army...
BTW I have the same tetradrachm as you :

 

Yes, it looks to have been minted shortly after Alexander's death by either Menander or Kleitos the White. I have a bronze from the same area/time. I like to show it off to annoy @Ryro since the shield is upside-down.


So, no. Alexander could not have given your coin to Roxana to buy bagels. It's unclear exactly when Roxana traveled from Babylon to Macedon, so there's a tiny chance she stopped through Sardis on the way and was given your coin by Menander to buy bagels.

It's also possible, as @GinoLR mentions, that Antigonos gave it to his son Demetrios to buy bagels.

Of course, bagels probably didn't cost an entire drachma back then. That was a full day's wages. Maybe the boulangerie gave Demetrios change (perhaps with my coin)? Or maybe he bought a lot of bagels? After all, he did have an army to feed.

 

Or he lost it playing dice...

 

Thanks @Mammothtooth. I missed out on it's identical twin (Obverse and reverse) at CNG. Thought I had it in the bag at 4 times the estimate but the extra 4 seconds on their bidding system did me in.

 

Not upside down. It's flying

... plus it kinda looks like someone's twig and berries like that
But just to help those that have never seen kerykeions before:

 

Great stater! I think the dream of every Greek coin collector.

Some of my Alexander coins:

Alexander III the Great. AR Tetradrachm. Civic issue, Mesembria mint 100-72/1 B.C. Struck in the time of Mithridates VI.
Obverse: Head of Herakles wearing lion's skin right, with the features of Mithradates VI.
Reverse: BAΣIΛEΩΣ / ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ / MEΣAM, Zeus seated left, holding spear and eagle; to left, ΔIO.
Reference: Price 1128; Karayotov I 316; HGC 3, 1570.
16.10g; 33mm


Alexander III the Great, struck under Philip III – Antigonos I Monophthalmos. Circa 323-310 BC. Æ Unit. Uncertain mint in Western Asia Minor.
Obverse: Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin.
Reverse: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ. Bow-in-bowcase and club; torch below.
Reference: Price 2800.
6.19; 19mm
Ex. Dr. W. R. Collection.
Ex. CNG Electronic Auction 350, Nr. 103


Alexander III the Great Bronze Coin. Two chalkoi (quarter obol). Struck posthumously under Philip III Arrhidaios, Miletos mint, 323-319 B.C.
Obverse: Macedonian shield, boss decorated with gorgoneion.
Reverse: Macedonian helmet; B-A to left and right; double axe below left; K monogram below right.
Reference: Price 2064

 

The reverse of your stater is particularly artistic; congratulations!

Your example lives up to your username: that griffin head would make anyone a happy collector. A wonderful coin!

 

As a minimalist collector, I will generally represent a type by just one example of the overall design, which can lead to some self-imposed hard decisions, but also a natural evolution as tastes change and experience improves.

~10 years ago, I bought my first Alexander stater.

I only have a picture of this one in a slab: I cracked it out but had yet to discover how to photograph coins:


A few years later, I upgraded to a distater after a lengthy search and numerous persistent emails to dealers asking if they had one in stock.



A few years after that, I subsequently replaced it with a stater of superior style (a drastically less expensive coin can still be a much better coin).




However, a couple years ago I managed to find an ideal distater again: I was fortunate to find one with an artistic reverse face which is an important attribute for me, as well as very nice overall centering. Adding to the appeal is that Ex-Numis found a 1965 pedigree.


At this point, I don't anticipate being able to upgrade this coin; it earned a place as one of my favorites, after a long-fought battle to find the "right" coin:



Ex. Adolph Hess AG & Bank Leu AG Auction 28, May 5th 1965, lot 153; Ex. Leu 13, April 29, 1975, lot 119; Ex. NAC 8, April 3, 1995 lot 222