Hi guys I own this drachm for almost one year , and I was trying to find some more detail information on internet , but there is not much article discuss about this type coin, and i don’t have a guide book of alexander iii coinage , so I hope someone could provide me , your knowledge or some detail history about this coin. By the way , I heard some people says there is a new theory comes out , discuss about how to identify life time issue or early posthumous issue drachm of Alexander III drachm , and I wonder is that possible my drachm is lifetime issue ? Thanks Alexander iii , drachm , Miletus mint.
Best online guide is Pella: http://numismatics.org/pella/ Usually non crossed legs are considered "lifetime". But that's not a new theory. Which new theory do you mean? On your coin the symbol looks like a corn ear: http://numismatics.org/pella/id/price.2100
Yes , that is the mark of corn ear , and it’s might mean its was minted in Miletus , but I hope I can received more information from for this specific type coin details. Thanks
Sorry , I was misunderstand those two link are the same , when I type last thread . I saw there are some listed collections on the website , and does the corn ear mint mark possible strike before 323 B.C ? Thanks
The last I'd heard, the striking dates of a lot of the "lifetime" issues are being extended, so many coins that were assumed to have been struck, say, 325-323 B.C.--lifetime issues, with uncrossed legs--are now dated to 325-320 B.C. ("possible lifetime issue"). But I don't know who has proposed this change, who is accepting this proposal, or what the reasoning/evidence is. I assume that whoever is promoting this theory is smarter than I am, but that's setting the bar pretty low, so you should probably take all of this with a grain of salt until the experts get it all sorted out.
I have always had trouble with the concept that Alexander died and all of a sudden several mints started crossing the legs. There must have been a decision about that time to start crossing the legs but I have not seen evidence that the change was made because Alexander died. I guess part of my problem is failure to understand the emphasis many people place on having a lifetime coin as opposed to posthumous. I can support the new idea making a third category 'possibly' which is just another way of saying that we don't know. I imagine there are a dozen other coin issues that could be separated into lifetime and posthumous based on mints not getting the word in a timely manner using 21st century standards but those don't carry the market preference for lifetime. We don't worry about Roman Provincial Alexandria mint coins of the last year of a reign being one way or the other but it seems very important in the case of this one reign.
I think the main reason is that the AtG tetradrachms were minted for so long after his death. Plus, Alexander is so well known, there's something special about being able to hold a coin minted during his lifetime.
