An Alexander III tetradrachm, Susa Mint - a lifetime or posthumous issue?

ALEXANDER III MAKEDONWN LIFETIME



BABALONIA, Babylon
Alexander III Lifetime
AR Tetradrachm / Stater (or Dishekel)
Minted ca. 323-328 B.C.
24 mm, 16.3g
Obv: Ba’al seated left holding scepter
Rev: Lion walking left, control mark Г above.
(Control mark Г was minted during Alexander III Lifetime)
Ref: Ref: BMC Arabia XXII no.1
Comment: "This type was discussed by Martin Price in his article "Circulation at Babylon in 323 BC," in the book "Mnemata: Papers in Memory of Nancy M. Waggoner." He asserts that a reengraved die clearly shows the "lion staters" with gamma followed the ones with delta. "They are probably shekels on the local standard." (page 67). He dates them to the lifetime of Alexander, because they were present in a hoard with deposition dated to 323/2. He doesn't give the earliest possible date explicitly, but mentions that Mazaeus was governor until 328 and issued coins, so I infer Price would put them at or after 328. So you can say "Struck 323 or before, under Alexander the Great." Quoted from @Valentinian
Ex: @Ancientnoob

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

According to "Alexander The Great Great Coinage. Finances and Policy By Goerges Le Rider English translation 2007 that all the BASILEOS issues were minted after 322 BC. That would make one of my favorite "lifetime" issues now posthumous. Sad but I still like it It is my souvenir of my first trip to the Big Apple. Alexander III Ar tetradrachm Arados mint 322-320 BC Obv. Beardless head of Heracles in lion skin headdress. Rv Zeus Aetophoros seated left. Price 3332 17.10 grms 25mm Photo by W Hansen

 

Besides the obvious crossed/uncrossed legs, how are Alexander coins determined to be either lifetime or posthumous? Just hoard evidence?

Mine was bought as lifetime; I have heard both arguments made, but I am sticking by my Lifetime attribution. Truly a stunning coin in hand - the Greeks were masters of coin production!

Alexander the Great
AR Tetradrachm
Ca 327-323 (or 327-313?) BC
Tarsos mint, Plough left, grapes beneath chair
Price 3025

 

Beautiful Arados. The obverse portrait is super nice.

Here is my Arados. Dealer said my coin belongs to lifetime-early posthumous. After reading your additional info, I guess I should categorize it as posthumous instead. Feeling a bit sad also.

 

Yes, that is a possibility. Based on my reading of Renault's The Persian Boy, Alexander's India campaign nearly cost him his life when he suffered a severe wound during the siege of a fortification.

Additionally, when his army persuaded him to turn back from India to Persia, the resulting march through brutal desert terrain cost him dearly in men and caused more damage to his health. When his long time friend and lover, Hephaistion died in Susa a few months before his death, Alexander's mental health deteriorated.

So, I can see that his portrait shows him aged and haggard. I am not sure if this is a true image of him, and it would be interesting to know if the lifetime coinage of Alexander III is based on his actual likeness, or if, instead, it was an engraver's notion of what he might have looked like.

 

I think that is still an ongoing debate honestly... For example in the Seleukid Empire it is quite common to see gods depicted on the coin with the features of the king itself.
I do remember reading in 'The Hellenistic World' by Peter Thonemann that even people in the ancient times misread the Herakles obverse on the coins of Alexander as Alexander himself.

 

That is true, and at least one other city, Kamarina, in Sicily, produced the Herakles wearing the lion headdress motif nearly a century before Alexander III's coinage.

Here's an example, a tetradrachm, 425-405 BC. This coin was purchased a couple of years ago.

17.5 grams

 

Another Price 1128, but a variant. Perhaps just a Celator having a bad day and starting the magistrate's name backwards. There are a couple of obverse die matches on AcSearch that have normal Price 1128 or 1129 reverse dies, so it does appear to be an "official" issue.

Kings of Macedon. Alexander III "the Great", 336-323 BC. AR Tetradrachm (15.94g). Mesembria mint, struck 125-65 BC. Obv: Head of Herakles in lion-skin headdress. Rev: BAΣIΛEΩΣ / AΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ; Zeus seated, holding eagle and spear; ΔIOΔ under arm; MEΣAM in exergue. Ref: Price 1128 var (ΔIO). Ex Pegasi.

 

The Thracian tetradrachms of Alexander III are very distinctive.

Nice coin!

 

The book to consult on Mesembria for this coin is Francois de Callatay: L'Histoire des Guerres Mithridatiques Vue par les Monnaies, Louvain-la-Neuve, 1987, 480 pages, 54 plates, quarto, green cloth.

If your French is up to it. All the same a valuable book for it's die studies alone.

 

Thanks! I will put it on my "to buy" list.

 

In answer to Finn235's question. The dating of Alexander III coinage is rather more complex. It involves many factors such 1. Trying to massage the limited historical sources 2. Trying to determine the relative size and order of of issues using die studies 3. Hoards as noted by Finn235 4. Stylistic and other factors. The last criterion was the main factor in determining that the lifetime Alexander coinage started in Tarsos in 333 BC and not in Macedon in 336 BC. Of course Troxell's study on the Alexander coinage pretty well is conclusive on that point and her study of the organization of the Alexander III coinage minted at Amphipolis is well researched as well. However like many things her study did raise some questions. Her group E coinage is by far the largest issue of all the issues from that mint and she assumed a date starting in 325 BC. Her theory was that these coins were minted for the returning veterans of Alexander's army. However Le Rider in the book mention by me above noted that Crateros with those veterans was still at Tarsos building a fleet when Alexander died. It would seem unlikely that these coins can now be dated to 325 BC but must come later as there would be no need for such a large issue of coins after the defeat of Sparta in 330 BC. They are more likely associated with the Lamian War in 323-322 BC. So in conclusion we can see that a combination of interdependent factors are used to try to determine the date of the Alexander coinage.
Alexander III Ar Tetradrachm Amphipolis circa 323-322 BC Troxell Group E2 Obv Head of Herakles wearing lion skin headdress. Rv, Zeus Aetophoros seated left Control mark Herm 17.20 grms 24mm Photo by W. Hansen