My fiscally responsible $8 drachm of Alexander the Great

[zanzi]

Here is the second part to my other thread- Caracalla's poor silver denarius. I bought the two coins for $16, free shipping, from a dealer who didn't know ancients and who thought it was a Roman coin. I wasn't too excited about that ugly denarius but I thought another Alexander III drachm would be great, and for that price was fair. The obverse is nicer than I thought from the photos, but the reverse is quite sad. 

 

Macedonian Empire
Emperor Alexander the Great
c. 320s-300s BC
AR drachm
O: Head of Hercules right, wearing a lion's skin
R: Zeus seated left with an eagle and sceptre, unclear object or symbol to left of legs, AΛEΞANΔPOY
Weight: 3.1 grams
Size: 16.6mm - 16.4mm - 2.4mm
 

From the seller's photos I thought it would be utterly unattributable but with the coin in hand it frustratingly seems to have traces of the mint/control mark to the left of the legs. The angled bar and knob above it are clear, but the vertical small lines are maybe from surface patina and not minting. If there is something under the throne, it is not visible. I looked through all of the PELLA coins but did not really find anything that matched too well. I highlighted it here, it would be awesome if anyone recognized it

 

 

This is now my second Alexander drachm, but was only 1/5 of the price. The quality shows, but I am still quite happy with the purchase. Here is my other drachm, a Price #1750 posthumous issue from Colophon. 

 

Macedonian Empire
In the name of Alexander the Great, issued by Philip III Arrhidaeus
Colophon Mint
323 to 319 BC
AR drachm
O: Head of Hercules right, wearing a lion's skin
R: Zeus seated left with an eagle and sceptre, unclear object or symbol to left of legs, AΛEΞANΔPOY
Weight: 4.10 grams
Size: 16.3mm - 17.4mm - 2.5mm
Uploaded to Numista as an example, as well as to Zeno.ru 328998, and my NumisForums thread

 

Thanks for checking it out. I know it is not much of a looker, but as a collector on a tight budget I was quite excited to add another Alexander drachm for such a low price. I'm still hunting for that mint mark. I'd love to see any other nice or interesting Alexander drachms. Looking through PELLA, there seems to be a thousand different small marks which are all quite fascinating.

[JayAg47]

Not sure about the reverse, but the style of obverse headdress look similar to the ones from Kolophon mint, possibly under Lysimachos. 

[zanzi]

19 hours ago, JayAg47 said:

Not sure about the reverse, but the style of obverse headdress look similar to the ones from Kolophon mint, possibly under Lysimachos. 

Thank you JayAg47, I'll look into this possibility. This is exactly the kind of help i was hoping for