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<p>[QUOTE="kirispupis, post: 7308529, member: 118780"]Hello everyone! I just sprang an order on a Philip II tetradrachm (same type as <a href="http://numismatics.org/pella/id/pella.philip_ii.115" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://numismatics.org/pella/id/pella.philip_ii.115" rel="nofollow">this </a>one), and there's one question about the coinage that has really puzzled me.</p><p><br /></p><p>The following is what I understand as the chronology:</p><p>359 BCE - Philip II takes the Macedonian throne</p><p>356 BCE - Philip's horse wins in the Olympics, so he starts minting this coin. In the initial issues, the horse faces <i>left</i>, which is the same for the coin I purchased.</p><p>347 or 348 BCE - In all coinage, the horse now faces to the <i>right</i>.</p><p>336 BCE - Philip II is assassinated. His son Alexander continues to mint Philip's coins.</p><p>328 BCE - Alexander ceases minting coins in the name of Philip, moving fully to his own famous issues. These coins, though, would again be produced after Alexander's death by Kassander and others.</p><p><br /></p><p>From this, it seems like all Philip II tetradrachms/staters with the horse facing left are lifetime issues, while those with the horse to the right (discounting the later ones by Kassander et al) <i>may</i> be lifetime issues, but because they continued to be minted after his death without change there's no way to know for sure.</p><p><br /></p><p>Now, the question that's been bugging me is: why did the horse change direction?</p><p>I know the Greeks were very particular on which way things were facing. The horse didn't just get lost and head back home. It <i>meant</i> something.</p><p><br /></p><p>From history, Philip II took Olynthus in 348 BCE. Could the direction be related to that? Or is the horse now looking toward the east and his planned conquests there?</p><p><br /></p><p>My feeling is there must be an academic paper on this, but so far I haven't found one. If anyone knows the answer, I would very much appreciate it.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="kirispupis, post: 7308529, member: 118780"]Hello everyone! I just sprang an order on a Philip II tetradrachm (same type as [URL='http://numismatics.org/pella/id/pella.philip_ii.115']this [/URL]one), and there's one question about the coinage that has really puzzled me. The following is what I understand as the chronology: 359 BCE - Philip II takes the Macedonian throne 356 BCE - Philip's horse wins in the Olympics, so he starts minting this coin. In the initial issues, the horse faces [I]left[/I], which is the same for the coin I purchased. 347 or 348 BCE - In all coinage, the horse now faces to the [I]right[/I]. 336 BCE - Philip II is assassinated. His son Alexander continues to mint Philip's coins. 328 BCE - Alexander ceases minting coins in the name of Philip, moving fully to his own famous issues. These coins, though, would again be produced after Alexander's death by Kassander and others. From this, it seems like all Philip II tetradrachms/staters with the horse facing left are lifetime issues, while those with the horse to the right (discounting the later ones by Kassander et al) [I]may[/I] be lifetime issues, but because they continued to be minted after his death without change there's no way to know for sure. Now, the question that's been bugging me is: why did the horse change direction? I know the Greeks were very particular on which way things were facing. The horse didn't just get lost and head back home. It [I]meant[/I] something. From history, Philip II took Olynthus in 348 BCE. Could the direction be related to that? Or is the horse now looking toward the east and his planned conquests there? My feeling is there must be an academic paper on this, but so far I haven't found one. If anyone knows the answer, I would very much appreciate it.[/QUOTE]
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