Philip II MACEDONIA AE18 Olympic Champion

[thenickelguy]

PHILIP II MACEDONIA AE18

3 Time Olympic Champion FATHER OF Alexander The Great

 

Philipp II of Macedonia, AE18, 5.91 gr, 17.7 mm. Uncertain mint. 359-336 BC.

OBVERSE – Head of Apollo right, wearing taenia

REVERSE – ΦIΛIΠΠOY (PHILIPPOU), Naked youth on horse prancing right, Δ (DELTA) below.
SNG Cop 581 - 616 (unsure)

___________________________

OLYMPIC CHAMPION IN 356 BC, 352 BC & 348 BC

This coin was designed to immortalize Philip's own victory in the equestrian events at the Olympic games in 356 BC, the year of Alexander the Great’s birth. Philip II was an Olympic champion three times.

• In the 106th Olympics, in 356 BC, Philip II won the race, riding his horse.

• In the 107th Olympics, in 352 BC, Philip II won the four-horse chariot race.

• In the 108th Olympics, in 348 BC, Philip II was the winner of the two colt chariot race.

(This info came with the coin description)

PHILIP II

According to the Greek historian Theopompus of Chios, Europe had never seen a man like king Philip of Macedonia, and he called his history of the mid-fourth century BC the Philippic History. Theopompus had a point.

Not even his better known son Alexander has done so much to change the course of Greek history. Philip reorganized his kingdom, gave it access to the sea, expanded its power so that it could defeat the Achaemenid Empire, and subdued the Greek city-states, which never regained their independence again.

To achieve this, he modernized the Macedonian economy, improved the army, and concluded several marital alliances. The result was a superpower with one weakness: it was as strong as its king. When Philip's son Alexander died, the institutions were too weak, and Macedonia never recovered.
 

Now about this Delta mark

I have found 4 other similar coins, all bronze and close enough in weight and size. Generally, the have all the same design.

My latest questions are

Are these all cataloged as the same coin?

Mine is at the bottom for comparison. it looks very close to the top left. I cannot find any exact number assigned for mine. Is my reworked text in BOLD a close enough description?

 

[Roman Collector]

These are fun but confusing (to me, anyway) coins! Nice acquisition to your budding collection, @thenickelguy!

This one has a thunderbolt:

Philip II of Macedon.
Æ Unit, 6.30 g, 18.6 mm.
Kingdom of Macedon, uncertain mint.
Obv: Diademed head of Apollo, r.
Rev: ΦΙΛΙΠΠΟΥ, youth on horseback r.; thunderbolt below.
Refs: Bellinger 43; SNG ANS 883.

 

 

[Ryro]

Great coin! @Alegandron knows a thing or two about Philly II. he made me acquire all four directions of PII:

And AR

[DonnaML]

 

I know nothing at all about these, but did buy one from one of the JAZ auctions. Mine has a thunderbolt:

Macedon, Philip II (359-336 BCE) (posthumous), AE 19. Obv. Head of Apollo right, hair bound with taenia [diadem] / Rev. Youth on horseback right wearing petasos, vertical thunderbolt below, ΦIΛIΠΠOY above.  SNG ANS 839, 880-882 [Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum, USA, The Collection of the American Numismatic Society, Part 8: Macedonia 2 (Alexander I-Philip II) (New York 1994)]; http://www.coinproject.com/coin_detail.php?coin=183292; cf. SNG Alpha Bank 427 [Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum, Greece 2, The Alpha Bank Collection. Macedonia I: Alexander I - Perseus (Athens, 2000)]. 19 mm., 6.19 g., 12 h.   Ex. Savoca Coins, DePew Collection.

 

[ominus1]

kool..a must have for ancient Greek....one way to have a tetradrachm  😄

[thenickelguy]

1 hour ago, Ryro said:

he made me acquire all four directions

Wow Ryro you have them coming and going!

Nice! as well as Donna's and ominus1. I see ominus has a Delta top right. Horse head on mine and his looks same.

So a horse walks into a bar and sits down on a stool and orders a beer. The bartender looks at him and says. "Why the long face?"

Edited August 2, 2022 by thenickelguy

[kirispupis]

Here's my only lifetime Philip II.

I also have this two posthumous one. Most attribute it to Polyperchon, but he had no control over Macedonia at the time. It was under official control of Philip III, but the real control of Adea Eurydike.

The interesting thing I find about these coins (though I'm not sure if it's true for the bronze ones) is that pre-348 BCE coinage has the horse to the left. After that, it's to the right. A plausible reason I've heard is that, with the fall of Olynthos to Philip in 348 BCE, he felt capable of looking beyond Greece. My feeling is the horse got tired after so many years, so he decided to go back home.

[Alegandron]

Makedon Philip II 359-336 BC AE 17 Horse Rider LEFT-LEFT facing scarce



Makedon Philip II 359-336 BC AE 19 Horse Hound LEFT-RIGHT



Makedon Philip II 359-336 BC AE 17 Apollo - Horse Rider RIGHT-LEFT facing



Makedon Philip II AE 18 Apollo - Youth Horseback spear hd below 359-356 BCE 18mm 6.2g SNG ANS 850-1 RIGHT RIGHT

[Alegandron]

23 hours ago, thenickelguy said:

PHILIP II MACEDONIA AE18

3 Time Olympic Champion FATHER OF Alexander The Great

 

Philipp II of Macedonia, AE18, 5.91 gr, 17.7 mm. Uncertain mint. 359-336 BC.

OBVERSE – Head of Apollo right, wearing taenia

REVERSE – ΦIΛIΠΠOY (PHILIPPOU), Naked youth on horse prancing right, Δ (DELTA) below.
SNG Cop 581 - 616 (unsure)

___________________________

OLYMPIC CHAMPION IN 356 BC, 352 BC & 348 BC

This coin was designed to immortalize Philip's own victory in the equestrian events at the Olympic games in 356 BC, the year of Alexander the Great’s birth. Philip II was an Olympic champion three times.

• In the 106th Olympics, in 356 BC, Philip II won the race, riding his horse.

• In the 107th Olympics, in 352 BC, Philip II won the four-horse chariot race.

• In the 108th Olympics, in 348 BC, Philip II was the winner of the two colt chariot race.

(This info came with the coin description)

PHILIP II

According to the Greek historian Theopompus of Chios, Europe had never seen a man like king Philip of Macedonia, and he called his history of the mid-fourth century BC the Philippic History. Theopompus had a point.

Not even his better known son Alexander has done so much to change the course of Greek history. Philip reorganized his kingdom, gave it access to the sea, expanded its power so that it could defeat the Achaemenid Empire, and subdued the Greek city-states, which never regained their independence again.

To achieve this, he modernized the Macedonian economy, improved the army, and concluded several marital alliances. The result was a superpower with one weakness: it was as strong as its king. When Philip's son Alexander died, the institutions were too weak, and Macedonia never recovered.
 

Now about this Delta mark

I have found 4 other similar coins, all bronze and close enough in weight and size. Generally, the have all the same design.

My latest questions are

Are these all cataloged as the same coin?

Mine is at the bottom for comparison. it looks very close to the top left. I cannot find any exact number assigned for mine. Is my reworked text in BOLD a close enough description?

 

Not sure it is a Delta....  

 

[NewStyleKing]

Is it likely that Phillip ll actually rode the horses himself? I mean, he could have fallen off, didn't come first or many horse related accidents to tarnish his reputation . Unless he rigged it!  The figure on the coins looks like a child jockey!

NSK=John

[thenickelguy]

2 hours ago, NewStyleKing said:

Is it likely that Phillip ll actually rode the horses himself? I mean, he could have fallen off, didn't come first or many horse related accidents to tarnish his reputation . Unless he rigged it!  The figure on the coins looks like a child jockey!

I just read someplace that while Philip II was off at war, he received three messages.

That Parmenio had overthrown the Illyrians in a great battle. That his son Alexander was born, and another that "His horse" won in the 356 BC Olympics.

Maybe it's a little like Bob Baffert winning the Kentucky Derby.

 

[Justin Lee]

Here's a little Philip III with a tiny horseman...

Macedonian Kingdom
Philip III Arrhidaios, Ruled 323-317 BC
AE Quarter Unit, Miletos mint
Struck under Asandros, Circa 323-319 BC
Obverse: Diademed head of Apollo right.
Reverse: Horseman riding right, BAΣΙΛΕΩΣ above, ΦΙΛΙΠΠΟY below, monogram to left.
References: Price P65, SNG ANS 1005
Size: 11mm, 1.13g

[Dwarf]

Jockeys or chariot-drivers were totally unimportant in the eyes of a Greek of this time.

The owner of the horse or chariot - who naturally didn't compete himself - got all the merits.

Regards
Klaus

[NewStyleKing]

Yep, it's always the way. # It's the same the whole world over, it's the poor who get the blame, it's the rich who get the pleasure, isn't it all a ******ing shame! #