ONE fateful swoop of a sword!

I was about to pull the trigger on a cool AR animal coin from the Archaic Greek World, when I read the next coin's attribute... OMGosh, I had snare this as it represented a Critical Juncture in Human History...(yeah, I collect these...)

I remember this story so vividly from my University Class on Alexander III the Great of Makedonwn that I attended 40 years ago. One fateful swoop of a sword was so close to changing Western History into EASTERN History! It was a very impressionable concept for me.

This is the Seller's write-up:
"A rather seldom seen monetary issue of this Persian satrap of some historical importance; particularly nice here is the well-centered, expressive obverse portrait. Spithridates was one of the tragic heroes of the first of four great battles won by Alexander the Great as he progressed eastward from Western Asia Minor, through the Persian realm, all the way to India. Although the veracity of historical accounts purporting to depict pitched battle minutiae can always be brought into some question, Arrian's chronicle of [the Battle of] Granicus easily captures the imagination, valiantly thrusting the Macedinonian king into center field at the helm of his troops, cutting down opposing leaders while barely escaping their own mortal blows... The closest of the latter calls was apparently a deadly swing of Spithridates' scimitar aimed at Alexander, negated in the last moment through a nifty move by Cleitus, son of Dropides... The rest was, as they say - history, and regardless of whether one believes that Spithridates was truly within a hair of irrevocably changing it [Western History], he did earn his place in it - as should this fine piece in a collection of any historically-minded ancient coin enthusiast." [Brackets and BOLD are my editing for some clarity.]



Persian Empire
Spithridates, Achaemenid satrap of Sparda (Lydia and Ionia)
ca 334 BC
AE10, 1.20g
Obv: Head of satrap r., wearing Persian headdress
Rev: Forepart of galloping horse r., monogram above, Greek PI below
Ref: VA 1823, Klein 367, Cop 1538
Comment: VF+ / VF , rev. bit o/c, highlighted olive green-brown patina, scarce


You can see in this many-years-modern painting from Charles Le Brun, depicting the critical junture in history where Cleitus is staving off Spithridates' blow to Alexander...
View attachment 699891


Here is a nice recap of the Battle of Granicus from Wiki:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Granicus


And a small blurb about Spithradates on Wiki:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spithridates


Please feel free to post any really cool coin that just LEAPT out at you, that you HAD to HAVE!

 

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Nice and unusual

I would have to show my entire collection then...

Q

 

Nice write-up and historical coin, Brian!

 

Great history lesson @Alegandron and a nice coin!

 

Wonderful pickup Brian! I love the history behind this coin. This is what I love about coin collecting. One gets to touch a piece of history.

One that I had to have for its historical significance was this denarius of Nero. It is a pre-reform denarius. Nero had to debase the coinage because he spent the treasury several times over. He needed to pay for his building program and his generally lavish lifestyle.

 

LOL, yeah, Nero was a PIG! Nice pickup on a PRE-reform, when the Empire had some money... Thank goodness Gauis Julis Vindex rose some Hades to get this idiot OUT!

 

let the games begin

Domitian animal

great coin

 

Love it! Congrats Brian!

 

That's an awesome coin @Alegandron! Part of "The Great" in Alexander's name certainly derives from the fact that he was always in the thick of the battle.

 

Almost anything I post won't do justice to the OP coin. But, here it goes. There is a story from my college days that explain why this was a "have to have" coin for me, and I've posted it on a couple of other threads. So, I'm not going to rehash it again.

Overall, Im still absolutely thrilled with the purchase.



Sicily, Kentoripai AE Hexas. Circa 344-336 BC. Obverse: Draped bust of Persephone right, grain ear in hair; stalk of grain behind. Reverse: Plough with a small bird standing on the share; two pellets to left, KENTWPIWN around. SNG ANS: 1324; CNS 7; Head p135. Size: 17mm, 2.37g.

 

Cool @ro1974 : I got my Rhino for the same reason: it is COOL!


RI Trajan AE Dichalkon Laureate hd L Rhinoceros walking L LI-Z yr 17 CE 113-114 12.9mm 1.25g Emmet 719 var. normally rhino right

 

Great coin and write-up. As a young man, Alexander made a fast journey east and had some interesting battles along the way. He was Julius Caesar's hero. Rome had a hero who got his start at a young age due to his father's death, Publius Scipio (later Africanus). Scipio was sent to Spain to replace his father of the same name who was killed there. The younger Scipio defeated the Carthagenians in Spain. The following coin has been attributed by some to him. The first living Roman on a coin.



Another historical coin I have shows Marius and his son on the reverse. Perhaps the 3rd living Roman on a coin, after Scipio and Titus Quinctius Flamininus. Marius was an excellent general & politician. He was consul 7 times in spite of being an Equestrian from the middle class, see below.

C. Fundanius. Denarius, 101. AR 3.98 g. Head of Roma with winged helmet r.; behind, control mark .R. Rev. Q / C. FVNDAN Triumphator in quadriga r., holding laurel-branch and staff; on near horse, rider holding laurel-branch. Cr. 326/1. Syd. 583. Seaby Fundania 1. Good very fine.
The reverse shows Marius as triumphator in the quadriga. He holds sceptre and laurel branch. On one of the horses rides his son. The children of the triumphator were - according to tradition - allowed to share the triumph of their father. The Q above refers to the office as quaestor the mintmaster held while minting these coins.

PS - the FVND coin pic and description are from acsearch. (I do not have a good pic of mine.)

 

PERFECT!

 

Agreed about Scipio!



I only have the Fundanius QUINARIUS:

RR Fundanius AR Quinarius 101 BC Jupiter Victory S 205 Cr 326-2

 

Great post and neat coin!

 

I recently picked up one of these, for exactly the same reason. The story I heard, though, was even more dramatic... it wasn't just a matter of Kleitos "staving off the blow," he cut off Spithridates' arm! Though who knows what really happened, of course. Still, an awesome moment in history!

 

That is how I remember the story too! That is why he died.

 

the coin i would to have octavian and the sun

 

That's an awesome little AE and some cool history!

I'll post this little AE of Alexander, I was long overdue for a AIII coin, and when I ran into this one for a reasonable price...I had to have it.