I wrote this up for a novel I'm releasing (it's not for sale yet, and I'm not putting the title here since I believe that's against the rules). Note that it's intended for children. I hope you'll find this a fun take on a coin we're all familiar with. Kingdom of Macedon, Philip III Arrhidaios AR Tetradrachm. In the name and types of Alexander III. Struck under Menes. Tyre, dated RY 29 of Azemilkos = 321/0 BC. Head of Herakles to right, wearing lion skin headdress / Zeus Aëtophoros seated to left, holding sceptre; ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ to right, -|O (Phoenician 'K = 'Ozmilk [king of Tyre]) above ||| ||| =/||| (Phoenician date [29]) in left field. Price 3275 (Ake); Newell, Dated 32 (same); DCA 737; HGC 3.1, 941 (Alexander IV). 17.03g, 26mm, 6h. Ex Roma. This is no ordinary coin. Enchanted by a sorceress, it was the last gasp to save a kingdom. Behind it is a tale unknown until now about friendship, love, and the cruelest treachery. Alex the Nice, known to you as Alexander the Great or Alexander the Third (though the first two aren't on Netflix), was the greatest military genius of all time. Undefeated in battle, he tore across the Persian Empire, through Baktria, and into India. Yet how he managed to do that has remained a mystery, until now. Alex befriended the animals of the world. Realizing that only together could they make this a better place, they joined forces in proclaiming peace upon the world, and slaughtered anyone who refused to be peaceful. His top lieutenant was a parrot named Perty, who appears on the hand of Zeus in this coin. Together, they conquered Anatolia, Egypt, the Levant, Persia, Baktria, Sogdiana, and part of India. They were unstoppable, until Alexander met her. Her name has been lost to history since the Great Library of the Chipmunks in Alexandria burnt, but she fell in love with him the moment he entered her village atop a pink elephant. Alas, that love was not returned. Alex instead fell for the ravishing Roxana, and they were immediately married. Spurned and infuriated, she turned to the dark arts. If she couldn't have Alex, then no one would. In India, she gave fear to his invincible army, and forced them to return to Babylon. There, when Alex again rejected her, she poisoned him. Realizing the travails of his kingdom on his death bed, Alex bequeathed his signet ring on Perty, who knew the kingdom was under threat from a malevolent witch. He minted these coins, each enchanted to negate her evil spells that drowned the world in sorrow. However, our witch too was not idle. She convinced the top general Antigonos One-Eye to disregard Perty, and pushed Ptolemy I in Egypt to open revolt. Desperate to hold the kingdom together at all costs, Perty raised an army against Egypt. Yet when they reached the Nile, what had started as a benign argument between the elephants and humans concerning Greek orthography turned into a feud that ended with thousands devoured by crocodiles. Enraged, the humans had Perty stuffed, and the empire of Alex the Nice was no more. So, what happened to the witch? Immortal from her dealings in the dark arts, she remains to this day, causing misery wherever she stays. Still burnt from Alex's rejection, she seeks out the saddest places in our planet, then strives to remove all hope. Children are her favorite victims, and rumors abound that she's a principal at a middle school near Seattle this very day. For 2300 years she's been patient, waiting for that right moment to lead the entire planet into misery. Now she has a plan, and the world's only hope is to rekindle that same alliance between humans and animals shattered those many years ago.
Super fun story and coin! And I have read plenty of folks in here drop the names of their books. I don't recall their being issue with it. Here's my latest Alex the nice with a MSC on the reverse: Alexander III the Great (336-323 BC). AR tetradrachm (28mm, 10h). ANACS XF 40. Lifetime issue of Amphipolis, ca. 336-323 BC. Head of Heracles right, wearing lion skin headdress, paws tied before neck / AΛEΞANΔPOY, Zeus seated left on backless throne, left leg drawn back, feet on ground line, eagle in right hand, scepter in left; Macedonian shield in left field. Price 57. Purchased from Heritage
Funny thing about that. The original that's on my blog has "spelling." However, since this is a more sophisticated audience, I changed it to "orthography" here.
