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Anonymous Ar Quadrigatus 225-214 BC obv Janiform head of the Dioscuri Rv Juppiter in a quadriga driven by Victory right. Crawford 28/3 RBW 64 6.70 grms 22 mm Photo by W. Hansen The quadrigatus was the last and most heavily produced silver coin struck by the Romans prior to the introduction of the denarius. It appears to conform with the contemporary South Italian nomos. The costs incurred during the Second Punic War created economic stresses that the Romans were unable to successfully cope with thus the latter issues were heavily debased..

In answer to @Curtisimo My library is rather modest with not quite 600 books, monographs etc. on ancient coins plus slightly more than about 100 auction cats. Unfortunately it is a bit of a mess. So far I have had a lousy coin buying year (2 coins) but I have purchased something like 32 books with 3 on the way, I need to build a new bookcase and modify my big one.

Absolutely I will be purchasing one as well. I think the study of this coinage is long overdue and I think it cannot come fast enough. I will have to move some books around though,

I was planning to begin a discussion on the Alexander coinage of Miletos, however it became increasingly obvious that I needed to first take a detour and look at the Zeus/ Eagle coinage for reasons that will become evident later. The principal denomination of this series is this coin a tetradrachm in the name of Alexander and struck on the Thraco- Macedonian standard. AGAIN NONE OF THESE ARE MY COINS Tetradrachm of Alexander III Thraco-Macedonian standard Uncertain Mint 332BC?? Obv Head of Zeus right laureate Rv Eagle standing slightly to the right head left wings folded Price 143 14.33 grms 26 mm Triton XXIV Lot 463 January 19 2021 Drachm of Alexander III Attic Standard Amphipolis Mint?? 332 BC?? Obv Head of Herakles Rv Eagled standing right head reverted on long torch Price 151 4.28 grms 17 mm Triton IX Lot 754 January 9 2006 Diobol of Alexander III Attic Standard Amphipolis Mint?? 332 BC? Obv Head of beardless Herakles wearing lions skin headdress. Rv Two eagles facing Price 155 1.37 grms 11mm CNG Auction 64 Lot 91 September 24 2003 This issue poses more questions than it does answers. The first has to be is the tetradrachm issue even related to the minor denominations as they are struck on two different weight standards. This would have a great deal of bearing as to attaching a possible date to the coinage. When looking at this group we have three alternatives. 1. The coins were struck in 336 BC at the beginning of the reign. Le Rider (2007) does discuss this problem at length however does not come to any clear consensus. Furthermore he only discusses the tetradrachm issue not the minors. However he does mention that stylistically this coinage does not resemble the contemporary Philip II coinage. I do not personally like this idea. It would certainly mean that the tetradrachm issue is not related to the minors as it is extremely unlikely that he would be striking a tetradrachm in the Thraco- Macedonian standard and supporting it with Attic standard minors. This to me does NOT make any sense. 2.The coins were struck circa 332 BC. This is the date that I DO favor though I am still not happy with the stylistic problems with the tetradrachm, however the style of contemporary Philip coinage is much closer. Antipater has been striking Philip's since 336 and is now embarking on a program of striking Attic standard Alexanders. The Zeus/Eagle tetradrachm could be a brief unsuccessful attempt to continue with the Thraco-Macedonian standard but proved unsuccessful and was quickly abandoned. The minor denominations which are Attic standard coinages probably started with the first issues of Alexander tetradrachms struck circa 332 BC but many may have been struck circa 330 BC in order to pay off the debts to the army that Antipater raised to fight the Spartans. This war ended early in 330 BC with the victory over the Spartans at Megalopolis. One can see a similar pattern in the coinage struck by Alexander III upon his return from India. Though the vast majority were tetradrachms some smaller denominations were also struck in order to satisfy the debts owed to individual soldiers. With the Heracles/eagle coinage Antipater was following a similar pattern that he had established with the gold quarter stater. With that coin he honored Athena with the reverse honoring Herakles (club and bow). With the silver minors he was honoring Herakles on the obverse with the familial animal of Zeus (the eagle) on the reverse. Again it should be noted that this is the chronology that I currently favor. 3. The coins were struck circa 323 BC or later. It is possible with the tetradrachms that they were struck even later. Le Rider does sort of hint at this but does not give details. Again there are major problems with this. As for the Herakles/eagle minors, it would seem to be very unlikely. By now the standard types the Herakles / seated Zeus types would have been seen. Again I do not see this as being very likely. However this analysis is at best very superficial. I have glossed over a number of issues

Constantine I Ae Half Follis Treveri 310-311 AD Obv bust right laureate cuirassed Rv Sol standing left holding globe. RIC 899 2.18 grms 16 mm Photo by W. HansenI imagine given the rate of reduction keeping this denomination going must have been something of a challenge.

There is a conference held in Calgary Alberta Canada on Saturday April 29 at the University of Calgary. There will be a number of speaker many of whom will be speaking on aspects of the coinage of Alexander III of which I am one. (Don't let that dissuade you) If any of you can do attend. This is the attached PDF Symposium program.pdf

In answer to @Severus Alexander Over the years I have read of the debate, however I did not catalogue it that much, as up to about 12 years ago (thereabouts) I was firmly in the camp of the traditional chronology as put forward by Price. Thus once I became convinced by the overwhelming evidence of the chronology as proposed by Troxell and Le Rider (and others) I had to change my views and look at the coinage far more closely. Thus up to recently my primary focus was on the Staters and Tetradrachms. For a few years now I considered that the vast majority of the drachm coinage from Asia Minor were posthumous. In this I followed Le Rider. I really only started to look closely at the drachm coinage about two years ago. From that time I tried to collect as much literature as I could. What I have done thus far is the fruit of that study. As to my theory. So far most of the theories are based on what I could see as the "top down" approach. That some authority decreed that this region produce primarily drachms. The question is; why would they do that? Who would be in charge of the entire region long enough for this to happen? My theory is more of a "bottom up" approach. That individual cities decided to produce a coinage that would be more acceptable within the region and could be acceptable outside. As I continue I will look more closely into this. Thank you for your response.

Myself I do not specialize in collecting the coins of just one emperor, however that being said I do have Emperors that for whatever reason I am willing to purchase yet more coins than what I current have one of these Emperors is Trajan. I have something like 20 coins of this emperor which makes him far and away the most coins I have of any emperor. Trajan Ae As 98-99 AD obv Head right laureate Rv Victory flying left holding shield inscribed SPQR RIC 395 var Woytek 61a 12.43 grms 26 mm Photo by W. Hansen What is curious about this issue is that the image seen on the reverse essentially is a copy of the standard as struck by Nero.

I will now look at the mint of Abydos. Though Thompson saw similarities to the mint of Lampsakos,, Price rightly noted that the attribution to that mint was questionable. I too have some questions ones that I will address later in this post. However at this juncture I will discuss the coinage as attributed to this mint. Abydos has initially struck gold staters and quarter staters, silver tetradrachms and drachms all with the same symbol, that of a figure of a male wearing chamys NONE of these coins are mine Alexander III Av Stater Abydos Mint Circa 322 BC Price 1497 8.61 grms 18 mm CNG Coin Shop Inv No 730414 ND Alexander III Av Quarter Stater Circa 322 BC Unpublished Price 1496 var 2.16 grms 9.5 mm CNG Auction 108 Lot 64 May 16 2016 Alexander III Ar Tetradrachm Circa 322 BC Price 1498 17.21 grms 26 mm CNG E Auction 448 Lot 50 July 17 2019 Alexander III Ar Drachm Circa 322 BC Price 1499 4.30 grms 16.5 mm CNG E Auction 426 Lot 35 August 8 2018 One of the more interesting aspects of the coins from this mint is that while the silver coinage follows the pattern of the other mints in the region thus deriving from the Levantine prototype the Av Quarter stater follows a prototype from the mint of Amphipolis. Of the four denominations found in this issue the drachms are by far the most common. The silver denominations show the god's foot resting on a footstool. However it is clear that this mint commenced striking Alexanders sometime after his death, The main rationale behind this assertation is the image of Zeus found on the reverse. This shows the god's legs spread widely. This is a style most notably associated with the mint of Sardes and because coins of this type can be linked to those struck for Philip III Arrhidaeus they are clearly posthumous Alexander III Ar Drachm Price 2599 Monogram over torch series 4.27 grms 16 mm CNG Auction 108 Lot 96 May 16 2018 However this brings up another question. While this mint does follow somewhat in the pattern of Lampsakos the image of Zeus is closer to that found at the mint of Sardes. It would seem to me that this coinage probably comes from a mint that is in close proximity to that of Sardes. It is now that I will try to grapple with the question of why. I believe that the main reason behind the massive issue of drachms in struck by the mints in Asia Minor is to replace the siglos coinage which was the main unit of currency within the region. I will say that this theory has been postulated by other scholars but has generally been dismissed by the vast majority of scholars most recently by Andrew Meadows (2019). However I have not seen any plausible explanation as to why the Asia Minor mints would produce the vast bulk of the drachm coinage. However I have seen evidence that the Persian Royal coinage was severely discounted after the fall of the empire. Thus there would be value in recycling the old Persian coins into the new Macedonian ones. However this is a theory only.

Ae Follis of Maxentius as Caesar. Carthage 306 AD Obv Head right laureate, Rv Carthage standing facing head left holding bundle of fruit in each hand RIC 51a Drost 14/14 This coin illustrated 10.80 grms 27 mm Photo bt W. Hansen This is one of the more scarce examples struck by Maxentius.

Ae Follis of Maximinus II Diai as Caesar Carthage 305-306 AD Obv Head right laureate Rv. Carthage standing facing head left holding bundles of fruit in each hand RIC 40b 10.38 grms 27 mm Photo by W. Hansen

Link Faustina I Ae Sestertius of Faustina I Maior Lifetime 139 AD Obv Bust right draped hair piled up on top of head garlanded with strings of pearls Rv Juno standing right holding patera and scepter RIC 1077a 24.80 grms 30 mm Photo by W. Hansen I would have to concur with the statement made above by @Roman Collector It is most likely a coin minted early in the reign of Antoninius Pius,

Ar Argenteus of Galerius Antioch 298 AD Obv Head right laureate. Rv Campgate with three turrets RIC 43/4a Gautier 45r This Coin referenced. 3.18 grms 20 mm Photo by W. Hansen

Constantius I as Divus Ae Follis Trier 307-308 AD Minted during the reign of Constantine I Bust right veiled laureate draped and cuirassed. Rv flaming altar flanked by two eagles wings folded. RIC 789 5.74 grms 25 mm Photo by W. Hansen

Initially I would have to give the nod to the Ptolemies. The images of Alexander III and Ptolemy I are superb. However if the term "slow and steady wins the race" has any validity the Seleukids continued with refining their portrait styles coming up with some impressive examples. Tetradrachm of Antiochos II Theos Sardes 261-246 BC Obv Diademed head of an elderly Antiochos I Rv Apollo seated left on omphalos holding arrow in right hand and resting on bow with his left. SC 518b HGC 236f WSM 1386 17.05 grms 28 mm Photo by W. HansenThe portrait on this coin depicts an older man with a care worn face. You can almost tell that this guy has seen a lot, with much of it not pretty. The depiction of sagging flesh along the jaw line gives the image a realism not often seen on coin portraits. However the contrast of this tough but haggard face and the full head of curly hair is quite stark.

As promised I am looking at the second of the four mints that I have noted in my previous post. I have chosen Lampsakos. Both Thompson (1994) and Price are confident in the attribution of the Alexander coinage to this mint. In this regard they both follow the pioneering work of Edward T. Newell. The mint initially struck silver tetradrachms and drachms though sometime later it commenced striking gold staters. PLEASE NOTE; NONE OF THESE ARE MY COINS. Alexander III Ar Drachm Lampsakos Mint Circa 323 BC Price 1343 symbol caduceus 15.5 mm 4.27 grms CNG E Auction 498 Lot 45 August 18 2021 Alexander III (IV)Ar Drachm Lampsakos Mint Circa 322 BC Price 1347 var symbol club and K 15.5 mm 4.25 grms CNG E Auction 498 Lot 46 August 18 2021 As can be seen and noted by the auctioneer the obverse die is shared between these two issues. Again as the image of Zeus is resting his feet on a footstool, the likely prototype for this issue is from the Levant. This is somewhat surprising as one would have expected that the coins from the mint of Amphipolis would be in circulation in this region. Both issues of drachms have tetradrachms associated with the issue. However looking on line I could not find any offered. This is evidence that initially the mint at Lampsakos was not very active. The first issue we can see that is represented by a number of coins is this one. Alexander III (IV)Av Stater Lampsakos Mint Circa 322 BC Price 1358 Symbol two horse foreparts conjoined DO Monogram 8.57 grms 18 mm CNG Feature Auction 114 Lot 116 May 13 2020 Alexander III (IV)Ar Tetradrachm Lampsokos Mint Circa 322 BC Price 1355 Symbol Demeter standing with two torches DO Monogram 17.22 grms 26 mm CNG Coin Shop Inventory No 525518 No Date. Alexander III(IV) Ar Drachm Lampsakos Mint Circa 322 BC Price 1356 Symbol Demeter standing with two torches DO Monogram 4.29 grms 18 mm CNG Auction 108 Lot 63 May 16 2018 Commentary: Though the symbols are different the very distinctive monogram appears to link the two series together. The tetradrachm 1355 does exhibit a later image of Zeus with the foreleg reverted back which can be seen on the drachm 1356 and even on the drachm 1347. To me this would indicate that the mint at Lampsakos did not commence production until after the death of Alexander III. Production was initially slow and there is no evidence of a sudden striking of Gold staters as can be seen on the coinage struck at Sardes. Thus I am more inclined to position this mint as starting later in 323 BC with limited production which changed somewhat later.

Caeausius Ae Antoninianus London 286-293 AD Obv Bust right radiate draped and cuirassed Rv Pax standing left holding scepter. RIC 101 3.48 grms 23 mm Photo by W. Hansen

I believe that the criteria is in many cases rather loose. This is true particularity in some areas of Greek coins as well as the Roman Provincial series where the standard works simply do not exist or are not readily available. Some collections such as BCD (Greek) or even RBW (Roman Republic) can actually be superior to that of published standard works which can be outdated. However unpublished can be overused. Many coins can be simply be a variant to a well known and relatively common type. As an example Trajan Ae Sestertius 115-116 AD Obv Bust right laureate and draped. Rv Fortuna seated left holding rudder and cornucopia 27.71 grms 33 mm Photo by W. HansenA At the time I purchased this coin back in 2004 the coin was a variant of RIC 652. RIC 652 had the S C placed in the exergue below the legend FORT RED. This coin had the SC placed in the field. This is the situation that existed until the publication of Woytek's book on the coinage of Trajan where it received the designation of 542v2 and my coin was referenced as an example.

I have been silent for a rather long time on this subject. The main reason was that I was waiting on some books that might clarify some issues that I was having especially dealing with the drachm issues of Asia Minor. Well the books finally came and I began the process of digesting the contents. These new sources created as many problems as I had hoped they would solve. However, it became clear to me that I needed to broaden my approach to some degree. Andrew Meadows in his article "Invasion and Transformation The Development of the Civic Alexander Coinage in Western Asia Minor c. 323to 223 BC" suggests that it is not the silver drachms that we should be concentrating on, but the gold. Like most I have been concentrating on the drachm coinage and so I need to reassess my thinking. This is the book where the article can be found. Before I begin I should make some observations. The first is that the mints I am going to investigate are (in no particular order Sardes Miletos, Lampsakos and Abydos These are generally considered to have issued drachms during Alexander's lifetime. However, it must be noted that in some cases the attribution to some of these mints are questionable. Price places a question mark behind his listings of the coins of Abydos?. I know that there has been a great deal of reassessment of the mints in the Levant. Another question is the why? That I will leave for now. Hopefully when I get through the four mints noted above, I will try to offer some conclusions on that subject. The first mint I will attempt to discuss is the mint of Sardes. This city was the capital of the Persian Satrapy of Lydia. It is the general consensus that Sardes is where the Royal Persian coinage consisting of the Gold Daric (struck at a weight standard of 8.35 grms ) and the silver siglos (struck at a weight standard of 5.35 grms) was struck . However as ubiquitous as this coinage is, there has not been a lot of study on it. Thus we cannot know if this coinage was minted on an annual basis, or if it was struck intermittently in answer to particular political crises. Persian Av Daric 375-336 BC 15 mm 8.33 grms Triton XXI Lot 529 January 8 2018 NONE OF THESE ARE MY COINS Persian Ar Siglos 375-340 BC 13 mm 5.48 grms Triton XXIII Lot 508 January 14 2020 Alexander takes the city in 334 BC and presses on in his efforts to come to grips with the Persian forces opposing him. As the coinage struck in his name is concentrated in the Levant, it would seem unlikely that there was any effort in Asia Minor until sometime in circa 325 BC. As I was concentrating on the drachm coinage I failed to recognize that the gold coinage could have been part of Alexander's efforts to pay off his army once he returned to Babylon. The mint of Sardes struck some 6 issues of gold slaters the first? one being this issue. Alexander III Av Stater Sardes Mint c 325-323 BC Price 2528 symbol rams head 8.58 grms 18 mm Triton XIII Lot 103 January 4 2010 The initial issues of gold staters were not stuck with accompanying minor denominations . The first one to do so is this series. Alexander III Av Stater Sardes Mint c 325-323 BC Price 2533 symbol griffin head 8.54 grms 17 mm Triton XVIII Lot 460 January 5 2015 This is the drachm issue accompanying the stater. This coin does exhibit the severe parallel legs on the image of Zeus seen on the reverse. Another feature is that the god's feet are resting on a footstool a feature seen on many of the Levantine mints indicating that the prototype probably came from that region Alexander III Ar Drachm Sardes Mint 325-323 BC Price 2536 symbol griffin head 4.28 grms 15.5 mm CNG E Auction 417 Lot 59 March 28 2018 There is another drachm which is not associated with any gold issue. Alexander III Ar Drachm Sardes Mint 325-323 BC Price 2542 symbol kantharos 4.26 grms 15 mm CNG E Auction 459 Lot 93 January 8 2020 The kantharos is associated with gold issues from the mint of Amphipolis. It is not normally associated with a silver issue at this time. Both this and the Price 2536 drachm were scarce when M. Thompson looked at the coinage of Sardes back in 1983. She had only noted one die for each series. A hoard which is being dispersed over the last few years has brought to light additional specimens,. This is not the case for the next issue, Alexander III Ar Drachm Sardes Mint circa 322 BC Price 2550 EY monogram 4.30 grms 16 mm CNG E Auction 462 Lot 40 February 26 2020 This issue is associated with both gold staters and silver tetradrachms However I was not able to find suitable example on line. As can be seen that the position of the legs have changed to that of the fore leg reverted with footstool. This is a feature associated with posthumous issues of Alexander. She also noted some 18 dies for this series which is rather more substantial than the drachm issues that preceded it. Hopefully in the next few weeks I will tackle the other three mints.

Diocletian Ar Argenteus Nicomedia 295-296 AD Obv Head right laureate Rv Campgate with four turrets RIC 25a Gautier 2 (Second Emission 3.39 grms 17 mm Photo by W. Hansen

The coin posted by @DimitriosL is a Tetradrachm struck at Amphipolis 323-317 BC In the name and types of Philip II of Macedon. Thus nominally it is struck for Alexander IV/ Philip III however it was struck by Antipater. It is Le Rider pl 45 15-16 It would appear that Antipater decided to resume production of this coinage after something of a hiatus of 5 to 7 years. This is my roughly contemporary example Tetradrachm in the name and types of Philip II Pella 323-315 BC Obv Head of Zeus right laureate Rv Youth on prancing horese right Le Rider 524 14.35 grms 23 mm Photo by W. Hansen This series was continued by his son Kassander ending circa 305 BC, It is the coins that are minted during this period that there could be a debate as to which are official and which are contemporary copies.

Link Antioch Septimius Severus Ae 30 "Sestertius" Antioch in Pisidia 205-211 AD Obv Heaf right laureate Rv Victory flying right holding trophy in both hands Krzyzanowska XXXI/ 41 22.62 grms 30 mm Photo by W. Hansen I always think that this coin could be the equivalent of a Roman Sestertius. in the east.

Trajan Ae Sestertius 194/5-107 AD obv Bust right laureate drapery on far shoulder. Rv Victory standing right affixing shield labeled VIC DAC on palm RIC 528 Woytek 204cA26.90 grms 33 mm Photo by W. Hansen At the time that I had purchased this coin in 2020 I knew of the auction that I had acquired it from (CNG) as well as an Heritage auction in 2016. Using ACsearch I subsequently discovered it was in a second Heritage auction also in 2016 as well as a Goldberg auction in 2004. However last year I was going through the Newman Numismatic portal and found that this coin was in a CNG auction back in 1996. So what am I saying. On another thread people are discussing provenances. With a little work and some luck one can sometimes find them.

One of my ex coins was found in this auction. It was this coin It made 110 CHF. The only thing I can say is that I bought this coin from an Alex Malloy auction sometime between 1985 to 1988. It probably could be found.

This to me is probably my most interesting Greek portrait. Tetradrachm of Philetairos Pergamon 269-263 BC Obv Head right diademed Rv Athena seated left holding shield before her. Westermark O III/R2 16.99 grms 29 mm Photo by W. Hansen This has to be one of the most iconic images in Greek numismatics. The cheek and the neck are rendered as two featureless planes which contrasts with the treatment of the hair which is almost electric in its treatment. The facial features which includes a very small eye, seem to be crowded into one small area. The end result is an image of almost shocking brutality. This is an image of a man who should not be trifled with.