Kings of Macedon. Amphipolis. Philip II. 359-336 BC. (Circa 355-349/8

Obverse: Laureate head of Zeus right

Reverse: ΦIΛIΠ ΠOY (FILIPPOU, "Of Philip"), Philip II on horse left, wearing kausia, short tunic and chiton around the neck, he raises the hand in salutation, bow beneath the front legs of the horse.

Le Rider D71, R -; SNG Cop 545 var.

Philip's revolutionary silver tetradrachms aimed to replace those of the Chalcidian League after his capture of the League's capital, Olynthus, in 348 BC. The horseman on the reverse was the type which had traditionally marked coinage of fine silver in Macedonia. The reverse type exists in two versions. One shows a bearded horseman wearing kausia and chlamys (this coin), very like the horseman on the coins of the fifth-century Macedonian kings; here no doubt Philip himself is represented. The other is a mounted jockey carrying the palm branch of victory, which certainly commemorates the success of Philip's horse in the Olympic games of 356 BC.

From sculptures uncovered in the excavation of Philip’s tomb in 1977, it is evident that the artist adopted some of Philip’s facial attributes in the depiction of Zeus on the obverse of his tetradrachms, which would help assert Philip’s divinity and claim to the broader throne of Greece.