Recently brought this on Ma coins, but the description wasn't the most descriptive, could anyone help me identify the exact coin this is? All I know is that it's Alexander the Great and I believe post issued, I don't have a price catalog for Greek books as I usually collect Roman but the price I believe is listed as 1819, wondered if someone could tell me the £ price? I paid £67 delivered, many thanks
The exact same coin was sold in 19-01-2019 at Peus E-auction 8 lot 58 for €55 https://www.sixbid-coin-archive.com#/en/single/l27894025
@S.Triggs , that’s a very nice addition. The term “Price” doesn’t relate to the value, it is a reference book written by Martin Price for coinage of Alexander the Great. The seller was indicating that your coin is the type classified as number 1819 in Price’s reference book.
Ah ok! That makes sense now, sorry for sounding rather dumb, I understand the RIC system for Roman coins but I'm very new to Greek, I haven't heard of Price until now, will have to look that book up. Thanks
haha i hope you haven't bought this coin in the expectation that its price could be 1819$ BTW it's a pretty nice coin for the price your paid, congratulations
Question for the OTHER "ancient specialists" who have not posted in this discussion yet. Note: I am not posting an opinion in any way on this coin, I just would like to have some basic questions answered. 1. What do you think about the "style" of the die engraving? It this a coin that was made during the later part of the more "artsy" period? 2. What do you think about the surface? It looks like an over dipped silver coin. 3. The planchet cracks seem smooth and shallow. 4. I think I can see the "blocky" crystalization on the cheek from older coins.
Here are my coins of Macedon: MACEDON, Alexander III of Macedon. Denomination: AR drachm, minted: Colophon; 323-319 BC Obv: Head of beardless Heracles right wearing lion skin headdress Rev: ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ Zeus seated on stool-throne left, eagle on outstretched right hand, sceptre in left hand. Two symbols: lyre (Left Field), A (Beneath Throne) Weight: 4.06g; Ø:1.8mm. Catalogue: Price 1769. Provenance: Ex private collection; acq.: 04-2019 MACEDON, Philip II. Denomination: AE 17, minted: uncertain; 359-336 BC Obv: head of Apollo right Rev: naked young man on horseback, prancing right, ΦIΛIΠΠOY above; Greek letter Θ below (or triskele?) Weight: 6.73g; Ø:17mm. Catalogue: S-6697/99. Provenance: Ex. v. Eldijk col; acq.: 12-2019 MACEDON, Anonymous. Denomination: AE14, minted: Amphipolis; c.187-31 BC Obv: Head of Artemis(?) right Rev: Corn-ear, Greek legend around Weight: 3.89g; Ø:14mm. Catalogue: SNG ANS 107-8; SNG Cop. 60.. Provenance: Ex. v. Eldijk col; acq.: 12-2019 If anyone could help me with the "Greek legend around" of the last coin, I would be most grateful.
Let's remember that when 'Hammer' prices are quoted for most sales (including, in this case, Peus) the number does not include a buyers premium, currency exchange fees, taxes, postage etc. It is for each of us to decide in every case whether "£67 delivered" is a fair advance on a previous sale of €55 plus all the aforementioned fluff. People buy and sell coins in hope for a profit until someone ends up taking a loss or actually buys a coin because they wanted the coin and decides to keep it for a while. There are many, many minor variations of Alexander drachms and recent hoards seem to have brought more to market lately. Specialists may want certain coins for reasons only they understand while many collectors just want a representative coin and could care less which of the thousands that coin is. The Price book is a great resource for those interested in specializing in or dealing in these coins. I'm the kind of collector who can not justify buying such an expensive reference about a series of coins not particularly special to me. Insider asked questions which I do not answer since I have not studied this particular subject to a point I have anything to say. My specialties and interests lie elsewhere in the hobby. I have four A3 drachms none of which would be of interest to most collectors but which fill (and then some) my desires for these coins. This is one. I bought it in 1991, oddly enough, the same year the Price book came out. I have never touched the book so, to me, this is just a representative coin with decent style, wear and reasonably smooth surfaces as I prefer.
QUOTE= If anyone could help me with the "Greek legend around" of the last coin, I would be most grateful.[/QUOTE] I think I see "ΑΜΦΙ(ΠΟ)ΛΙΤΩΝ." (Αmphipolis) starting from the lower left then upward. There appears to be a monogram to the far right.
It so happens I just got an Alexander (posthumous) drachm this week. Every once in a while they go cheap on eBay and, if they are kinda pretty, I'll pounce. This one was $32 plus $5 shipping. Macedonia Kingdom Drachm Philip III Arrhidaios (c. 323-319 B.C.) Kolophon Mint Head of Herakles right, wearing lion-skin / AΛEΞANΔPOY, Zeus seated left holding eagle & scepter, star in left field, spear head to outer right. Price 1759; Müller 317. (4.22 grams / 18 x 17 mm) I bought my first one back in 1987 from a paper catalogue (remember those?) for $75.00. If that tells you anything about Alexander-types drachm market trends! Macedonia Kingdom Drachm Antigonus I Monophthalmus (c. 320-306 B.C.) Lampsakos Mint Head of Herakles in lion skin / AΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ, Zeus std. left on throne, eagle & sceptre. Controls: obv. forepart Pegasos left; rev. AI below throne. Price 1385; S-6731. (4.22 grams / 17 mm)
I have a few of different Alexander III's here, but I never proclaim being an expert. Sometimes when I hear the word "expert" bantered about, I always have to ask if you are an "expert", you would have to have actually LIVED during that time. Otherwise, they are just relying on other folks hearsay. Here is a fun one I got for the Snake: (Some expert said it is a Lifetime, cuz AE's and Fractional AR's were minted during the Ruler's lifetime for everyday transactions.) It seems the Tets and sometimes the Drachmae were always questioned if they were Lifetime or not. I enjoy collecting AE's and AR fractionals. As my Grandson would exclaim: 'NAKE! Makedon Alexander III the Great AE17 5.6g 325-310 Alex-Herakles lion skin - B A bow case club Coiled SNAKE Price 385
This is all fascinating, thanks for sharing! Would anyone be able to help me decipher my coin and give me the detailed description of the obv and rev?
You have a lot of the information you already need to do research on the coin. In my opinion, attributing is most of the fun of getting a new coin. Best of luck and let us know what you come up with. Edit: I would start my search on Wildwinds
Obv: Head of Alexander* as young Hercules, right, wearing lion-skin headdress, paws knotted at throat. Rx: ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ vertically downwards to right of Zeus Aetophoros ("eagle-bearing" in Greek) enthroned left, right leg drawn back, no footstool, holding eagle and resting hand on scepter; beneath seat, AB in monogram; cross-like object** in field to left. * I'm not trying to start a war here. There are some folks who hold very strong feelings about whether or not the portrait of Hercules on Alexander-era coins was meant to represent Alexander. In the absence of any original documentation about the engravers' intentions, I prefer to think it is an idealized portrait of Alexander. Some vehemently disagree. ** I have never before encountered this specific field mark while cataloging Alexander-era coins. I'm not sure what else to call it. You don't really need to own Price in paper edition, or have access to a pdf of Price, to determine the place and date of origin of Alexander-types on the basis of fieldmarkings and style. Both Coinproject - http://www.coinproject.com - and wildwinds - http://www.wildwinds.com - list huge numbers of the variants with photographs and descriptions; and typically include attribution to the Price system and/or SNG alpha bank (and typically several other references as well.) It can be a little tedious running through several hundred photos in search of a match by pattern recognition, but it can be done - and it's a really good educational exercise to look at so many varieties within the overall type, too.
Thank you very much for helping me out, I must admit, the ease of being able to look up a RIC Roman left me unprepared for trying to decipher the Greek coins, I'm sure I'll get quicker and better at it as time goes on, but pleased to know what it is on paper now
The transition from familiarity only with Latin-inscribed coins to reading/recognizing at a glance legends inscribed in Greek is a moderately steep step on the learning curve - but hardly insurmountable. Bear in mind here that a very significant percentage of the Roman coins in existence are Provincial issues inscribed in Greek. Many folks psyche themselves out at this point and give up, saying: "It's all Greek to me..." etc. However, most of the letters are the same as the Latin alphabet - there's only a handful of different letters in Greek.
