1/5th Tetradrachm of Philip III Arrhidaeos

A 1/5th tetradrachm is not a coin I had noticed before this one. An interesting 2.55g coin of Philip III, son of Philip II of Macedon, half-brother to Alexander the Great, unkindly and variously described in literature as the half-wit, illegitimate, and idiot brother to the great king. A coin issued shortly after the death of Alexander the Great in June 323 BC. Philip III, born Arrhidaios, and Alexander's infant son Philip IV, born after Alexander's death, were co-sovereigns under regent control, as the Diadochi battled for control. Issued shortly before Philip III Arrhidaeos was executed by Alexander's mother Olympias to prevent him from being used against her in December 317 BC. Before being executed, he was on the run, captured and imprisoned in Amphipolis, where this coin was minted.

Kings of Macedon, Philip III Arrhidaios, 323-317 BC, AR Fifth Tetradrachm, Amphipolis mint. Struck under Polyperchon (regent), circa 318-317 BC
Obv: Head of Apollo right, wearing tainia (headband)
Rev: [ΦIΛIΠΠOY] Horseman riding right; forked branch below
Ref: Le Rider pl. 46, 26-7 (?)

Post your coins of Philip III Arrhidaios, coins from this turbulent period or anything else you find interesting or entertaining.

 

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Wonderful coin! I’ve never seen the type either.
I’ve always wondered what actually ailed the special half brother of ATG? The theories range from Downes all the way to, the laughably propagandist and hyperbolic, him being poisoned by Alexander’s mother Olympias to ensure her sons ascension to the throne.
Would love to have seen a coin with his portrait. Instead here’s some fun ones:


Philip III Arrhidaeus Uncertain mint in Western Asia Minor. (323-317 BCE)/ Or Antigonus Gonatas (288-277 BCE)
Bronze Æ Half-bronze unit, (PB, 16) No. v19-0059
16mm, 12 hours. 4.11g. No. 110 in the reference books: Cop.- - MP.2803 pl. 110
Obverse, Three-quarter-front head (Herakles?) to the right placed in the center of a Macedonian shield.
Reverse, Macedonian helmet; in the field on the right, a caduceus; monogram in the left field.
Caption setback: B-A Ex: Savoca



Philip III – Antigonos I Monophthalmos
KINGS of MACEDON. temp. Circa 323-310 BC. Æ Half Unit (16mm, 3.65 g, 12h). Uncertain mint in western Asia Minor. Macedonian shield; on boss, head of Herakles, wearing lion skin, facing slightly left / Macedonian helmet; below, grain ear left. Price 2805 var. (grain ear right).

Philip III Arrhidaios
323-317 BC. Æ Quarter Unit (10mm, 1.26 g, 6h). Miletos(?) mint. Struck under Asandros, circa 323-319 BC. Macedonian shield; boss with labrys / Macedonian helmet; K to lower left. Price 2067 corr. var. (denomination; K to lower right)
Philip III Arrhidaios
(323-317 BC). Æ Half Unit (14mm, 4.30g, 12h). Sardes, c. 322-319/8 BC. Shield with kerykeion (caduceus) in central boss. R/ Macedonian helmet; kerykeion (caduceus) to l., rose to r.; TI below. Price 2612.

Ex-Savoca

 

Kings of Macedon, Philip III Arrhidaios Æ Half Unit

323-317 BC
Sardis mint
Circa 322-319/8 BC
Obverse: Shield with kerykeion in central boss.
Reverse: Macedonian helmet; kerykeion to left, rose to right; TI below
References: Price 2612
Size: 14mm
Weight: 2.94g

 

Very cool! I also wasn't aware of this denomination. Here's my tiny AE Philip III quarter unit... It's kinda fun to hold something so small, and with its concavity, almost sucks itself to your finger. The reverse is much nicer than the obverse on this one, but I had another one in AMCC1 (I think SA actually bought it) which was the opposite with a nice obverse head and weak strike on reverse.


Macedonian Kingdom
Philip III Arrhidaios, Ruled 323-317 BC
AE Quarter Unit, Miletos mint
Struck under Asandros, Circa 323-319 BC
Obverse: Diademed head of Apollo right.
Reverse: Horseman riding right, BAΣΙΛΕΩΣ above, ΦΙΛΙΠΠΟY below, monogram to left.
References: Price P65, SNG ANS 1005
Size: 11mm, 1.13g

 

Nice coins.

I don't think this is genuine (ancient) - but it is a small, weird thing from Macedonia by a guy named Phil. The attribution is wishful thinking...



Stacked on a Lincoln penny:


Macedonia Kingdom
1/12 Stater in Silver (?)
Philip II
(c. 359-336 B.C.)
Pella Mint (?)
Laureate head of Apollo right / ΦIΛIΠΠOY, thunderbolt above, facing lion's head below.
Sim. (but in gold): Le Rider 26; SNG ANS 209-15.
(0.86 grams / 9 mm)

 

I don't know this type at all, but are you certain it is not ancient? It looks it to me.

 

@Sulla80
Fantastic coin! I love the dark history behind it as well.
I unfortunately do not have any coins of his, but here is a Seleucid Stater that was minted in Babylon after Philip III had been murdered.


SELEUKID EMPIRE. Seleukos I Nikator. 312-281 BC. AR Stater (22mm, 15.89 g, 11h). Ba’al seated left, holding scepter / Lion walking left; anchor above. SC 88.2a; HGC 9, 67a. Area of weak strike, some porosity. VF. Babylon mint.


Mentally handicapped persons were treated one step above wild animals in ancient times. The fact that Alexander took his mentally disabled brother on campaign with him and treated him with decency warms my heart.

 

Is there a reliable way to distinguish bronze coins of Phillip III from those of Philip II?

 

Thank you for that vote of confidence, Bing. It looks pretty good to me too, which is why I haven't entirely given up on it...

But I posted it a while back and Ken Dorney thought it was that it is a museum reproduction of some sort. Ken knows a lot more about these things than I do, so I believe him.

Meanwhile I keep it in my little Hope Chest, hoping that my Coin Fairy Godmother will turn it into a real coin. Or is that Coin Pinnochio I'm hoping for? I could never keep my fairy tales straight.

https://www.cointalk.com/threads/ma...2th-stater-in-silver-is-this-possible.307194/

Now when it comes to the same Philip as the OP, here is a Philip III Arrhidaios drachm that I am pretty sure is genuine, but I looked at thousands of them online and could not find a match. I posted this a while back without a response beyond you liking it (thanks again, Bing!)

https://www.cointalk.com/threads/philip-iii-arrhidaios-drachm-need-some-help-with-symbols.326964/



Macedonia Kingdom Drachm
Philip III Arrhidaios
(c. 323-319 B.C.)
Thrace-Kolophon mint ?
Head of Herakles right, wearing lion-skin / FILIPPOU, Zeus seated left, right leg drawn back, holding eagle & scepter, F left, club (?) rt., knife (?) under throne.
Unattributed
(3.99 grams / 17 mm)

 

Great coin @Sulla80 ! Beautiful example.

BTW, the device on the reverse... reminds me of a THISTLE



Mine is from Daddy...


MAKEDON Philip II AR 1/5th Stater Apollo head r - Horseman r trident below as S6691
Ex: FSR

 

That is a wonderful coin @Sulla80 and a denomination I had never heard of. I wonder what the rational for such a coin was? I'll add my favorite coin of poor Philip III Arrhidaeus. I lovethe ornate throne Zeus is sitting on.

Philip III Arrhidaeus AR Tetradrachm 318-315 BC Babylon II mint 28mm 17.20g
Obv: Head of Herakles right, in lionskin headdress
Rev: Zeus Aetophorosseated left, holding eagle and scepter; ΠAY monogram in circle and long torch left, I under throne.
Struck by Seleukos as satrap of Babylon.
Price 153, Mueller P20

 

That's a beautiful coin, @Sulla80 !

Unfortunately, someone at some point decided to punch a hole through mine. I still like it:

Philip III Arrhidaios (in the types of Philip II), Kingdom of Macedonia, AR 1/5 tetradrachm, 323–317 BC, Amphipolis mint. Obv: head of Apollo right, wearing tainia. Rev: [Φ]IΛIΠΠ[OY]; horseman riding right; branch below. 13mm, 1.78g. Ref: Le Rider pl. 46, 28; Troxell, Studies, Group 8, 385.

 

Thanks - I agree and also had the same thought on thistle, and found only examples described as "forked branch" including this one from CNG which seems to be a reverse die match.

I don't know, but I suspect that the coin from @Alegandron may also be a "posthumous issue" from roughly same time period as mine and the coin of @Orielensis. I've found similar examples to my OP coin from CNG labelled as Philip II posthumous and Philip III....??

I can't weigh in on genuine or not, but I can see why you picked it up - I especially like your photo with the Lincoln cent.

 

Hope I'm not too late to the party. (Is that possible with ancient coins? )

This is my first ancient, stumbled upon these coins while looking into silver and was amazed that I could own something from 2300 years ago at an attainable price, with the richness of history of ancient Greece that I've always been interested in. Particularly the Greek gods and goddesses, so to find that a popular and beautiful coin was the tetradrachm with Hercules on the obverse and Zeus on the reverse I fell in love. Spent some time looking for a coin and locked in on this one due to the wonderful profile of Alexander/Hercules (the detail of his eye is awesome!) And the detailed reverse of Zeus. Overall well centered with most all the details still intact.

Price P169, minted in Sidon shortly after Alexander's death. ANACs has it slabbed as 322-321 BC, Price states 321-320 BC.

Wasn't too concerned on getting a lifetime, and found the history surrounding this coin equally interesting. After getting this I'm sure a lifetime issue will follow, and I'd love to own a Philip II tetradrachm as well.

 

+/- a thousand years is usually fine but your coin didn't show up!

 

Brand new account wouldn't give me the option and imgur link didn't work, but the pictures should be visible now in all their glory

 

looks like a nice deep relief, I saw it as soon as i refreshed my browser. Here's a drachm of Phillip III Arrhidaios 4.13g.

Greek, Kingdom of Macedon, Philip III Arrhidaios, AR Drachm, struck in the name and types of Alexander III. Kolophon, circa 323-319 BC
Obv: Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin headdress
Rev: Zeus Aëtophoros seated left, holding sceptre; [AΛ]EΞANΔPOY to right, spearhead in right field, star in left field
Ref: Price 1759; Müller 317

It is not bad looking even with the hole and the added mystery of "what was that nailed to?".

It is a good question there are other coins with similar weight from roughly same time period - we call those triobols, hemidrachms - Sikyon comes to mind. Then of course I think of someone trying to understand the rationale for these coins:

farthing x 4 = penny x 12 = shilling x 20 = pound

I like the coins like yours that actually say ΦIΛIΠΠOY instead of Alexander.

 

I'm a bit late, but I have several coins of Philip III.

Here's one of the OP's type.

Philip III
AR 1/5 Tetradrachm 2.57g
Minted under Polyperchon, Amphipolis, 318-317 BCE
Le Rider Taf. 46, 29; SNG ANS 731–735
Vs.: Kopf des Apollon mit Tänie n. r.
Rs.: Jüngling reitet n. r., unten seitlich gesehener Schild
Ex Kölner Münzkabinett​

Here's a drachma minted under Menander.


And here's my tet, struck under Laomedon.

Philip III Arrhidaios
AR Tetradrachm 319/318 BCE
16.95g, 26mm, 12h
Struck under Laomedon, in the types of Alexander III. Sidon, dated RY 15 of Abdalonymos = 319/8 BC. Head of Herakles to right, wearing lion skin headdress / Zeus Aëtophoros seated to left, holding sceptre; ΦΙΛΙΠΠΟΥ to right, O (date) in left field, ΣI below throne.
Price P175; Newell, Dated 45; DCA 878
Ex Roma​