Well I noticed that this will be the 8,000th thread in the Ancient Forum. So I thought it might be appropriate to post perhaps the most iconic ancient coin to celebrate this august occasion. Please post your Alexander Tetradrachms. Here's mine: Kings of Macedon Alexander III; BC 325-320 AR Tetradrachm, Side Mint, 26mm/17.2g OBV: Head of Heracles wearing lion skin R REV: Zeus enthroned left, holding eagle and sceptre; wreath before, DI beneath throne. (Price 2949)
It's always the same one for me. I think it's time I shop for a second one just so I don't have to show the same one over and over again.
A nice example indeed Sallent! I love the detail on the reverse. The throne appears as though someone put some effort into the ornate carving.
Very appropriate thread, and what a great A-III Tet! I have a couple Lifetimes and a Posthumous to offer up: Makedon Alexander III 336-323 BC AR 16.5g TET Posthumous Obv-Rev.jpg Makedon Alexander III, 336-323 BCE AR Tetradrachm (16.86g) (24.1mm) Lifetime Issue Obv: Herakles Rev: Zeus, Large Ball Throne Since Alexander died in Babylon... here is a Babylonian LOCAL Currency struck during the Lifetime of Alexander... BABYLONIA, Babylon AR Tetradrachm / Stater (or Dishekel) Minted ca. 323-328 B.C. 24 mm, 16.3g Obv: Ba’al seated left holding scepter Rev: Lion walking left, control mark Г above. (Control mark was minted duringAlexander III Lifetime) Ref: Ref: BMC Arabia XXII no.1 Comment: "This type was discussed by Martin Price in his article "Circulation at Babylon in 323 BC," in the book "Mnemata: Papers in Memory of Nancy M. Waggoner." He asserts that a reengraved die clearly shows the "lion staters" with gamma followed the ones with delta. "They are probably shekels on the local standard." (page 67). He dates them to the lifetime of Alexander, because they were present in a hoard with deposition dated to 323/2. He doesn't give the earliest possible date explicitly, but mentions that Mazaeus was governor until 328 and issued coins, so I infer Price would put them at or after 328. So you can say "Struck 323 or before, under Alexander the Great." This pic is from one of @Collect89 posts... as it is the same thickness as mine...
Yeah, it was definitely the work of a very skilled celator, which is part of the reason I've yet to buy another. I feel like the one I have is superb enough on its own. Eventually though I do want to add another, and maybe even an Alexander drachm too.
This is the thinnest but biggest Alexander coin that I've been recently able to acquire. It measures 35 mm. of diameter and weighs 15.97 g. Struck at Temnos between 188 and 170 BC, it shows a vase and vine grapes to left of Zeus seated. I didn't clean it yet and managed to scan it quickly tonight, preferring to shoot it digitally at day light.
Yay for our 8000th Ancients thread! Alexander the Great is certainly a fitting theme for the thread It's a great type of coin to collect-- so many issuers, so many issuers, so many interesting control marks, so many styles. Recently someone mentioned a book by Peter Thoneman, The Hellenistic World: Using Coins as Sources. There is an inexpensive Kindle version which I downloaded soon after that thread. While I'm only a few chapters in, it's very interesting and quite readable. Part I has a lot to say about coins Macodonia, particularly Alexander III and his successors. The material was mostly things I'd gleaned here and there but Thoneman put it together in a way that really allowed me to see the bigger picture. I look forward to reading the rest of the book. One particularly interesting passage discusses the identity of the reverse figure on Alexander III's iconic tetradrachms (and other denominations). We cite the figure as Zeus-- but was it really meant to be Zeus? Thoneman lays out an argument for the figure being Ba'al, or that the reverse deity was specifically chosen and posed to pass for Ba'al if seen by someone from an Eastern culture or by Zeus for Westerners. You can read the book to get the full theory . KINGS OF MACEDON, Alexander III AR tetradrachm, 17.14 gm late lifetime issue, struck in Aradus c. 324/3 BCE Obv: Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin headdress. Rev: BAΣIΛEΩΣ AΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ; Zeus seated left, holding eagle and scepter; I in left field; AP monogram below throne Ref: Price 3325 ex Colosseo Collection (images by Colosseo Collection)
I agree with @TIF , it's an interesting and readable book. Here's my only. Actually The Hellenistic World: Using Coins as Sources is what inspired me to collect some of these. Kings of Macedon, temp. Kassander – Alexander (son of Kassander). Circa 310-294 BC. AR Tetradrachm, 26mm, 16.8 g, 6h, Amphipolis mint, in the name and types of Alexander III. Obv.:Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin. Rev.: Zeus Aëtophoros seated left; in left field, Λ above torch; ΔI monogram below throne.
That would make sense as Ba'al and Zeus could readily be equated, given their similar attributes, symbols and positions occupied in their respective pantheons. The citizens of Tarsos at least would have just thought "oh hey, it's Ba'al" when Alexander started striking his tets at their city since they were using a very similar figure on their staters showing Ba'al on the obverse. One theory out there is that Alexander simply copied this coin for his reverse. (Coin not mine, pic courtesy of CNG)
What an awesome tet you got there TIF , did you buy it recently ? Was it meant to be Zeus on the reverse of Alexander's coins, I think it is, afterall his mother Olympias told Alexander Zeus was his real father , and not Philip II of Macedonia. but Alexander was flexible, if he conquered a country where people woreshipped Ba 'al , he had probably no problem to tell 'm, it was Ba 'al pictured on his coins.
