During the early third century AD the Koinon ("League" of cities) of Macedonia struck coins under the Romans. Here is one from the league dated to "the time of Severus Alexander" (222-235) without the Roman emperor's name (but his name did have "Alexander" in it), rather the head of Alexander the Great and Alexander riding his horse right with spear and flying cape. ALEΞANΔPOY KOINON MAKEΔONΩN BN where "BN" at the end refers to "twice Neocorate" (two temples to the cult of the emperor). The mint was at Thessalonica. Sear Greek Imperial --. BMC Macedonia p.23 #104 is similar. SNG Copenhagen II 1356 (same reverse). There are very many reverse varieties of this coinage. Wildwinds illustrates many: http://wildwinds.com/coins/greece/macedonia/koinon/t.html It is interesting for showing what third century Romans thought Alexander the Great looked like. Show us some other coins of Macedonia under the Romans.
I'd love to get a better example of the coin shown below which depicts the taming of Bucephalus. This one was in a large and mostly unattributed mixed lot. The cleaning marks are tragic but it's still a good "story coin" Macedon Koinon 3rd century AD (in the time of Severus Alexander? Gordian III? Caracalla? This type was minted during several reigns) AE27, 13.5 gm Obv: (in theory...) AΛEΞANΔPOC; head of Alexander right (flowing hair? lion skin? helmeted?) Rev: KOINON MAKEΔONΩN [somethingNEsomething]; Alexander standing right, naked except for chlamys which flies behind him, taming his horse Bucephalus who rears left before him Ref: SNG Copenhagen 1357?
That's a great example @Valentinian. I opnly have one coin from Koinon DOMITIAN AE23 OBVERSE: AVT KAISAR DOMITAINOS SEB, laureate head right REVERSE: KIONON MAKEDONWN, Macedonian shield Struck at Koinon of Macedonia, 81-96AD 8.2g, 23mm RPC 336, SNG Cop 1337, Moushmov 5881
Obverse: Alexander iii the Great/Herakles wearing lion skin. Reverse: Alexander (huge hole where he should be) astride Bucephalus! 24 MM 11.9 GR
Very nice Alexander Valentinian, Haven't recieved the coin yet but a recent CNG auction (415) had quite a large consignment of Provincial Macedonian coins and inside that a good range of Koinon of Macedonia (federation of Macedonian communities) commemorating Alexander the Great. So could not resist this Pseudo-autonomous issue in the date range of 222 AD Severus Alexander to 249 AD either Gordian III or Philip I, Obverse with a good portrait of Alexander and Reverse two tetrastyle temples seperated by a column with statue (probably Alexander) with inscription Koinan Macedon. B. NE the B. NE honouring the second neocourate temple. There isn't many of this particular type so unpublished in the usual references. Roman Provincial. MACEDON. Koinon of Macedonia. Pseudo-autonamous 222 AD to 249 AD . Æ (27mm, 11.19 g, 6h). Beroea mint. OBV: AΛEΞANΔPOC bust of Alexander the Great right, flowing hair. REV: KOINMA KE ΔONΩN.B.NE Two tetrastyle temple façades; in field between, column surmounted by statue. Unpublished in the standard references. VF, green surfaces, ragged edge, some smoothing and roughness. From the Belgica Collection. Ex Classical Numismatic Group Electronic Auction 242 (13 October 2010), lot 100
Good point Warren, I have thought about that as well, maybe they used Lysimachus Tets to copy as we would nowadays if we had to reproduce his looks on coins......below is Curtisimo's Tet compare to your's and mine you will see similarities Hope you don't mind me using your fantastic coin image Curtisimo
I just came across one of these types recently. The reverse is very rough, but I couldn't pass up the wonderful bust of Alexander...
Way cool @Valentinian ! His portrait did not drift TOO far in 5-1/2 Centuries... You know me, gotta offer up some coins on the OTHER end of the Roman time spectrum. Makedon as the Roman Province of Macedonia: RR Macedonia occupation Alexander - Club Coin chest Quaestor Chair wreath Aesillas Quaestor AR Tet Thessalonika Mint BC 90-70 Alexander with flowing hair! This coin is a bit strange. It bears legends in two different languages. On the obverse Makedonon ("Of the Makedonians") is written in Greek letters while the reverse features the Latin word Aesillas - the Quester in Roman Macedonia. King Mithradates VI of Pontos started to establish an empire of its own in the east. When he attempted to conquer Cappadocia, he came into conflict with another ruler of the east, King Nicomedes IV of Bithynia. Nicomedes asked the Romans for help. The Romans wanted to increase their presence in Asia Minor. Yeah, Imerator / Dictabor Sulla saw his opportunity during the First Mithridatic War! The Romans had to secure supplies. Therefore the Via Egnatia (Roman road) through Thrace and to Asia needed to be secure. The Via Egnatia was arguably the most important strategic route connecting the West and the East. In the first century, a major part of the Via Egnatia crossed areas on which the belligerent tribes of Thrace had some influence. The Romans needed to ensure the Thracians as allies. The Romans were no dummies. They knew that they could just buy the Thracians support. So, they paid the Thracians for staying put and not to harrass the Roman Legions or their supply route. The Romans created the coins in such a way that they could be readily accepted by the Thracians. Since the time of their King Lysimachus, between 305 and 281 BC, the Thracians were used to circulating coins that bore the portrait of Alexander the Great. Therefore, the Romans depicted Alexander with flowing hair and the horn of Ammon. During the time of Aesillas the Via Egnatia allowed the Romans to transport troops, supplies, and money. Mithradates fate was sealed. In 63 BC, the Roman general Pompey cornered him during the Third Mithradatic War. Mithradates saw no other way than to take his own life. Placating the Thracians with payments in generally accepted Alexander coinage enabled troops and arms to freely move from Rome to Asia. The Romans became the unchallenged masters of Asia Minor.
There are a good number of Koinon types of this series and most of them are more than the usual when it comes to interesting subjects. This is not a nice specimen but it shows agonistic prizes and has the word Olympia in the field.
