Finally got myself a full-sized Alexander the Great portrait coin!

[CPK]

IT'S HARD TO THINK of a more iconic figure from ancient history than Alexander the Great, or a more consequential one. He succeeded his father Philip II as king of Macedon at the age of 20, and in a mere dozen years had pretty much conquered the known world. Alexander became a legend in his own lifetime and his story has fascinated audiences all the way down to the year 2023, and will probably do so for thousands of years to come.

Unfortunately Alexander was a much better general than he was a king - and his empire crumbled immediately upon his untimely death in Babylon in 323 B.C. However, his influence in shaping world history was both profound and enduring.

Of course lots of soldiers require lots of coins and Alexander’s coinage was minted on a scale never before seen. Mints sprang up all over the newly conquered territories, striking bright silver drachms and tetradrachms in order to pay the troops. Most of these bore the image of Herakles wearing the Nemean lionskin on the obverse, and the seated figure of Zeus on the reverse.

https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=3854231

There is a school of thought that argues that the image of Herakles on the obverse actually portrays the features of Alexander as Herakles; Harlan J Berk makes the case in his book 100 Greatest Ancient Coins. I don’t know. Maybe, maybe not. I’m not fully convinced.

In any case, shortly after Alexander’s death his former general and bodyguard, a man named Lysimachos, took control of the regions of Thrace, Asia Minor, and Macedon and began to strike coins, not bearing his own portrait but rather, unequivocally that of the now-deified Alexander the Great.

These coins are beautifully struck in very high relief, and exhibit some of the finest portrait artistry to come out of the Hellenistic era. I’m continually amazed at the quality, not only of the engraving, but also of the flan preparation and striking - despite the large quantities minted, and the high relief, there seem to be very few poor, soft, or off-center strikes.

All in all the Lysimachos tetradrachm featuring Alexander is one of the most iconic ancient coins, right up there with the Athena/Owl tetradrachm or the coins of Julius Caesar. It’s one of those coins that every collector at least should have in his/her collection. 😉 Unfortunately this demand means that the prices can be high, easily $1K for a nice example.

SO it is with a combination of delight and awe that I show off my own specimen! Purchased earlier this year. Didn’t cost $1K but -gulp- was a little too close for comfort 😬 - anyway we won’t think about that.😉 It’s not FDC by any means, but still very nice, with a particularly pleasing obverse. I’m just thrilled to be able to own one, wasn’t sure if I ever would!

 

 

Now when I started researching for attribution I ran into a little bit of a puzzle. I knew it was a somewhat rare type; searches on ACSearch.com brought up only 5 examples sold. Of these, 3 claimed to be struck from the same dies as “Stockholm 845”. However there is a clear conflict among them. Upon close examination, I was convinced that my coin was struck with the same dies as these two auction listings, both claiming to be struck from the same dies as Stockholm 845:

ex CNG - https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=8487849

ex Roma - https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=2544066

 

The third listing claiming to be struck from the same dies as Stockholm 845 was this coin, sold through CNG:

ex CNG - https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=6069193

BUT as you can see from the position of the cornucopia and the lettering, this reverse die, at least, is clearly not the same die as the other two above. 🤔

 

To make things even more confusing, I then found that one of the other 2 ACSearch coins which did not claim to be of the same 845 dies - ex-CNG - was later sold through a VCoins store, and was listed there as being struck from the same dies as Stockholm 845. However the reverse-die, at least, was clearly different from the other ACSearch listings making the claim:

ex VCoins - Lysimachos AR Tetradrachm, About Extremely Fine, RARE, Lovely Style! 297 - 281 B.C.E. (vcoins.com)

In my own attribution I went with the weight of the 2 auction houses versus the VCoins coin, but I’d love if someone with access to Stockholm could confirm which coin(s) share the plate coin’s dies and which do not! 😐

In any event, it does appear to be a rather rare variety, and though that was not at all the reason I made the purchase, it’s a nice little extra. Besides the 5 on ACSearch and my own coin I could not find any other examples online.

Please post up your own Alexander portrait coins, coins you never thought you’d get to own, or any other comments!

 

 

Examples:

“SAME DIES” Ex CNG, auction 118, lot 115, 9/13/2021 (https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=8487849) - same as CNG auction 93, lot 121, 5/22/2013 (https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=4832874)

“SAME DIES” Ex CNG, auction 446, lot 19, 6/19/2019 (https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=6069193)

Ex Savoca, 26^th Silver auction, lot 99, 10/14/2018 (https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=5355826) - tough to see; clearly not same dies as other claimants.

“SAME DIES” Ex Roma, E-Sale 18, lot 235, 6/27/2015 (https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=2544066)

Ex CNG, auction 225, lot 24, 1/13/2010 (https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=728954) - same as Zuzim, Vcoins (SOLD) (Lysimachos AR Tetradrachm, About Extremely Fine, RARE, Lovely Style! 297 - 281 B.C.E. (vcoins.com))

[Nerosmyfavorite68]

Congratulations!  It's certainly a handsome piece.

I have one, which I picked up from Jon Kern at a coin show in the early 2000's.  He had a bag full of very nice ones, and the one I chose had a slight ding, which put it in my budget. Things were cheaper then.  I have a terrible picture floating around somewhere. It's in the unphotographed section of the collection.

 

 

[Curtisimo]

Congratulations my friend! This is a very nice example of an iconic coin. Mine has poor surfaces but the style is good and I’ve alway though the reverse was especially nice.

[DimitriosL]

It reminds me a lot of the one i was aiming for during an older savoca auction.  Beautiful example you got there! I especially like the toning. Congrats! The most stunning coin of antiquity imo. I hope i get one in the future. 

[kirispupis]

Congrats on the pickup!

Here are my portraits of Alexander. My Lysimachos is also a rare variety.

Lysimachos
287/281 BCE
Perinthos 17.08g
Kopf des vergöttlichten Alexander / Athena mit Nike-Statuette auf Cippus und Schild, Beiz. Monogramm und 2 gegenläufige Pferdeprotomen.
Thompson in Festschr. Robinson (1968), -, vgl. 256 HGC 1750q; Thompson, Armenak-Hoard (=ANS MN 31, 198 - Müller, Lysimachus - Arnold-Biucchi in Festschr. Price (1998) Unpublished variant(?)

 

Ptolemy I 311-305 BCE
27.5 mm 14.6g 1h
Sv.162 (37 ex) - Cop.29 - GC.7750 var. - BMC.- - MP.6
Avers : Buste cornu et diadémé d'Alexandre le Grand sous les traits de Zeus-Ammon à droite, coiffé de la dépouille d'éléphant avec l'égide.
Revers : Athéna Promachos ou Alkidemos marchant à droite, brandissant une javeline de la main droite et tenant un bouclier de la gauche ; dans le champ à gauche, un casque corinthien, un monogramme et un aigle sur un foudre tourné à droite.

[Limes]

Wow! That's a beauty! Magnificent obverse with a strong portrait. Congratulations! The Lysimachos tetradrachm is somewhere on my wishlist too. But they are expensive indeed, and unfortunately, there are a lot of interesting Romans on that list too.... I do have a (not very attractive...) drachm, shown below. 

About the rarity, or attribution; I have no idea. But maybe @kapphnwn can share his knowledge. 

[kapphnwn]

In response to @Limes Yes your coin is drachm struck at Kolophon circa 310-301 BC. It is Price 1797 In coin archives one can find something like 70 of these coins listed. I do plan to discuss the mint a Kolophon in my thread sometime in the future. Nice coin

[AETHER]

Lysimachos tets are so amazing, congrats!

I only have a drachm, which I think was struck in Ephesos, but I'm not really sure.

Maybe @kapphnwn or anyone else can help out?

Edited July 17, 2023 by AETHER

[NathanB]

@CPK, Congratulations on your catch! I am very much with you on how (deservedly) iconic this coin is. I would love to have one, but can't afford one for the foreseeable future. I also feel exactly the same about Eukratides' tetradrachms and drachms.

Another reason I particularly like the Lysimachos reverse is because it was so clearly an inspiration for the Seated Britannia of older English penny fame. 

Edited July 17, 2023 by NathanB

[CPK]

7 hours ago, kirispupis said:

Congrats on the pickup!

Here are my portraits of Alexander. My Lysimachos is also a rare variety.

Lysimachos
287/281 BCE
Perinthos 17.08g
Kopf des vergöttlichten Alexander / Athena mit Nike-Statuette auf Cippus und Schild, Beiz. Monogramm und 2 gegenläufige Pferdeprotomen.
Thompson in Festschr. Robinson (1968), -, vgl. 256 HGC 1750q; Thompson, Armenak-Hoard (=ANS MN 31, 198 - Müller, Lysimachus - Arnold-Biucchi in Festschr. Price (1998) Unpublished variant(?)

 

Ptolemy I 311-305 BCE
27.5 mm 14.6g 1h
Sv.162 (37 ex) - Cop.29 - GC.7750 var. - BMC.- - MP.6
Avers : Buste cornu et diadémé d'Alexandre le Grand sous les traits de Zeus-Ammon à droite, coiffé de la dépouille d'éléphant avec l'égide.
Revers : Athéna Promachos ou Alkidemos marchant à droite, brandissant une javeline de la main droite et tenant un bouclier de la gauche ; dans le champ à gauche, un casque corinthien, un monogramme et un aigle sur un foudre tourné à droite.

 

Love that Ptolemy tetradrachm! In fact I prefer that type over Lysimachos, not necessarily for the artistry but for the history. Unfortunately they're quite a bit more expensive than even the Lysimachos tetradrachms. Very nice!

  

2 hours ago, kapphnwn said:

In response to @Limes Yes your coin is drachm struck at Kolophon circa 310-301 BC. It is Price 1797 In coin archives one can find something like 70 of these coins listed. I do plan to discuss the mint a Kolophon in my thread sometime in the future. Nice coin

I think ( @Limes can correct me ) that he was referring to my coin, there being some confusion whether or not it's a die match to the SNG Stockholm 845 coin.

 

 

Edited July 17, 2023 by CPK

[Sulla80]

21 hours ago, CPK said:

There is a school of thought that argues that the image of Herakles on the obverse actually portrays the features of Alexander as Herakles; Harlan J Berk makes the case in his book 100 Greatest Ancient Coins. I don’t know. Maybe, maybe not. I’m not fully convinced

I enjoy this coin from Arados (years after the death of Alexander, 190  BC).  I think it is possible that the guy in charge of the mint was convinced that he looked a bit like Alexander....and perhaps a bit like Zeus too....

[Limes]

9 hours ago, CPK said:

I think ( @Limes can correct me ) that he was referring to my coin, there being some confusion whether or not it's a die match to the SNG Stockholm 845 coin.

 

Yes, indeed, I was referring to the quest of CPK 🙂 I believe @kapphnwn has done quite a lot of research on AtG coinage. (Thank you nevertheless, for confirming my own attribution quest from some time ago 😁)

[kapphnwn]

I will try again. Unfortunately I do not have the Stockholm  SNG so I cannot confirm or deny the attribution. Unlike most of the successor kingdoms which have had rather extensive studies of their coinages (I am referring to the Seleukid Coins (SC) and the Coinage of the Ptolemaic Empire CPE) Among others ) the Kingdom of Thrace or Lysimachos has not been studied all that much over the last few decades. The last attempt to organize the coinage of Lysimachos was done by Margaret Thompson back in 1968 and published in the Essays Robinson. I believe this article may have been in preparation for a book but that did not happen. I do not know how readily available the article in Essays Robinson  is.  This article is an extremity abbreviated look at the coinage and many types including the one listed above were omitted. She does list the types with the cornucopia in the left field but not with the letter lambda on the throne. Thus when cataloging a coin in this series people have been forced to use other sources such as the Stockholm SNG as a reference. On the whole I would be less concerned about the coin being a die match than perhaps being the same type. My coin of Lysimachos 

Ar Tetradrachm of Lysimachos Lampsakos  297/6-282/1 BC Obv Head of Alexzander the Great right diademed with horn of Ammon Rv Athen seated left holding Nike who is seen in the act of crowning the name Lysimachos. HGC 1750b Thompson 61a 17.22 grms 30mm Photo by W. Hansen

I should note that the Thompson article notes that 61 can either have the MT monogram with either a crescent or a star,  Mine has the crescent hense the "a".

[Phil Anthos]

Wow, there are some magnificent coins posted here! 

My own humble entry is a lifetime issue from Amphipolis, a coin I bought in 1989 and one of my first 10 ancients. I really need to redo the image though as it is so much nicer in hand. 

~ Peter Hope 

 

Edited July 18, 2023 by Phil Anthos

[CPK]

31 minutes ago, Phil Anthos said:

Wow, there are some magnificent coins posted here! 

My own humble entry is a lifetime issue from Amphipolis, a coin I bought in 1989 and one of my first 10 ancients. I really need to redo the image though as it is so much nicer in hand. 

~ Peter Hope 

 

That is a beauty, with a particularly fine-looking portrait! 👍