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Origins of Alexander's Tetradrachms: Amphipolis or Tarsos?
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<p>[QUOTE="Kaleun96, post: 8351684, member: 92635"]Hi all!</p><p><br /></p><p>I recently picked up this new Alexander tetradrachm from Amphipolis and it sent me down a rabbit hole of research, cumulating in a fairly lengthy article on how the tetradrachms of Alexander likely originated.</p><p><br /></p><p>The coin below is a "Price 4" type, which probably indicates to some of you that it's thought to be a fairly early type. It is in fact thought to be the second "Alexander" type minted in Macedonia and, if you're to believe Martin Price, the second "Alexander" ever. If, on the other hand, you believe the first Alexander tetradrachms were struck in Tarsos, then this coin is interesting for the Eastern features it retains from its likely inspiration: the satrapal staters of Tarsos.</p><p><br /></p><p>If this kind of thing interests you, feel free to read through the article on my website at the link below and let me know if you have any thoughts or feedback (or if I get anything badly wrong!). I'd copy the article here in its entirety but it's 8000+ words and has multiple figures. Hopefully this is allowed:</p><p><a href="https://artemis-collection.com/the-origins-of-alexanders-tetradrachm/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://artemis-collection.com/the-origins-of-alexanders-tetradrachm/" rel="nofollow">https://artemis-collection.com/the-origins-of-alexanders-tetradrachm/</a></p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://artemis-collection.com/wp-content/uploads/1160_alexander_tetradrachm_resized.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /> </p><p><br /></p><p>If you'd rather not spend your weekend reading it, I will give a very brief summary.</p><p><br /></p><p>Whether "Alexanders" were first struck in Macedonia in 336 BC or in Tarsos in 333 BC may not be super interesting to everyone but it does have consequences for interpretations of why Alexander chose the designs he did (Herakles portrait, seated Zeus) and why he started minting his own coinage in the first place. If he ordered their production in 336 BC, it may have been due to a need to establish his authority or resolve the issues with the weight-standard Philip II had been using for his tetradrachms. But if Alexander didn't start producing his own coins until 333 BC, he must not have been too concerned with continuing to mint his father's coins for a time, and the need for his own coinage must have stemmed from his campaigns in the Near East.</p><p><br /></p><p>In the article, I argue why Alexander tetradrachms are derived from the Tarsos staters and that this must mean they were not struck until circa 333 BC. I primarily rely on the stylistic elements of the throne of Zeus/Baaltars to connect the staters to the early tetradrachms of Alexander in both the Near East and Macedonia. I also show how there were no equivalent parallels for this throne style in earlier Greek coinage so it is unlikely they were inspired by Greek furniture design and could not have been minted in 336 BC when Alexander was likely not aware of the Tarsos staters.</p><p><br /></p><p>My coin in particular exhibits some of the "Eastern" elements from the Tarsos staters when it comes to the throne design and flowering sceptre but there's also some interesting links with Philip's last emission of tetradrachms that helps identify which of Alexander's types were the first to be struck in Amphipolis. While some of the "Eastern" elements soon disappear from the Amphipolis tetradrachms, some elements do linger and others even make a reappearance a few years later. At times we also see completely different throne styles from coins minted in the same city, perhaps only a few years apart (e.g. Arados). I wasn't able to follow this thread since my article was already too long and broad but I'd be interested in doing so another time to get a fuller picture of the ebb and flow between "Eastern" and "Western" style in Alexander's tetradrachms.</p><p><br /></p><p>Thanks for reading![/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Kaleun96, post: 8351684, member: 92635"]Hi all! I recently picked up this new Alexander tetradrachm from Amphipolis and it sent me down a rabbit hole of research, cumulating in a fairly lengthy article on how the tetradrachms of Alexander likely originated. The coin below is a "Price 4" type, which probably indicates to some of you that it's thought to be a fairly early type. It is in fact thought to be the second "Alexander" type minted in Macedonia and, if you're to believe Martin Price, the second "Alexander" ever. If, on the other hand, you believe the first Alexander tetradrachms were struck in Tarsos, then this coin is interesting for the Eastern features it retains from its likely inspiration: the satrapal staters of Tarsos. If this kind of thing interests you, feel free to read through the article on my website at the link below and let me know if you have any thoughts or feedback (or if I get anything badly wrong!). I'd copy the article here in its entirety but it's 8000+ words and has multiple figures. Hopefully this is allowed: [URL]https://artemis-collection.com/the-origins-of-alexanders-tetradrachm/[/URL] [IMG]https://artemis-collection.com/wp-content/uploads/1160_alexander_tetradrachm_resized.jpg[/IMG] If you'd rather not spend your weekend reading it, I will give a very brief summary. Whether "Alexanders" were first struck in Macedonia in 336 BC or in Tarsos in 333 BC may not be super interesting to everyone but it does have consequences for interpretations of why Alexander chose the designs he did (Herakles portrait, seated Zeus) and why he started minting his own coinage in the first place. If he ordered their production in 336 BC, it may have been due to a need to establish his authority or resolve the issues with the weight-standard Philip II had been using for his tetradrachms. But if Alexander didn't start producing his own coins until 333 BC, he must not have been too concerned with continuing to mint his father's coins for a time, and the need for his own coinage must have stemmed from his campaigns in the Near East. In the article, I argue why Alexander tetradrachms are derived from the Tarsos staters and that this must mean they were not struck until circa 333 BC. I primarily rely on the stylistic elements of the throne of Zeus/Baaltars to connect the staters to the early tetradrachms of Alexander in both the Near East and Macedonia. I also show how there were no equivalent parallels for this throne style in earlier Greek coinage so it is unlikely they were inspired by Greek furniture design and could not have been minted in 336 BC when Alexander was likely not aware of the Tarsos staters. My coin in particular exhibits some of the "Eastern" elements from the Tarsos staters when it comes to the throne design and flowering sceptre but there's also some interesting links with Philip's last emission of tetradrachms that helps identify which of Alexander's types were the first to be struck in Amphipolis. While some of the "Eastern" elements soon disappear from the Amphipolis tetradrachms, some elements do linger and others even make a reappearance a few years later. At times we also see completely different throne styles from coins minted in the same city, perhaps only a few years apart (e.g. Arados). I wasn't able to follow this thread since my article was already too long and broad but I'd be interested in doing so another time to get a fuller picture of the ebb and flow between "Eastern" and "Western" style in Alexander's tetradrachms. Thanks for reading![/QUOTE]
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