| Leu Numismatik AG > Web Auction 28 | Auction date: 9 December 2023 |
| Lot number: 793 Price realized: 6,500 CHF (Approx. 7,389 USD / 6,862 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: KINGS OF MACEDON. Alexander I, 498-454 BC. Oktadrachm (Silver, 33 mm, 28.68 g, 10 h), circa 479-475. Horseman, wearing chlamys and petasos, holding two javelins and walking slowly to right behind bridled horse standing right; to upper left, crescent; on the flank of the horse, kerykeion brand. Rev. AΛE-ΝA-NΔ-PO around quadripartite square in relief; all within rectangular incuse. Asyut 152. Raymond group II, 54. SNG ANS 23. Very rare. An impressive piece of vigorous late Archaic style. Numerous light marks and the obverse a bit weak and with very minor die rust, otherwise, very fine. From a European collection, formed before 2005. Influenced by the longstanding hostilities between the Macedonian Kings and Athens in the late 5th and 4th centuries, Greek commentators often stressed the alleged barbarism of the Macedonians, who lived in and around the Macedonian plain in Northern Greece and spoke a related Greek dialect. The earliest references to the Macedonian Kingdom, however, come from Herodotus, from whom we learn that the claim of Alexander I to be a descendant of Herakles and the Argives was accepted by a court of Elean hellanodikai possibly as early as 504 BC, which allowed him to participate (and win), as a Greek, in the Panhellenic Olympic Games. Alexander's father Amyntas I had been a vassal of the Persians since the advance of Dareios I to Europe in 512/1 BC, and his son and successor carefully maneuvered between the superpower Persia and the Greek city states in the South. The accounts given by Herodotus on his actions are rather confusing, but it appears that Alexander, while formally fulfilling his duties as a Persian vassal, secretly sided with the Greeks on several occasions, providing them with valuable information about the Persian's plans and movements - although it is unclear to what extent these stories are later extenuations. In 479 BC, Alexander personally spoke as an ambassador of the Persian commander Mardonius to the Athenians to win them over to the Great King's side, but he openly defected to the Greeks after Pausanias' resounding victory at Plataia and defeated the remaining Persian forces at the Strymon river during their retreat to Thrace. Little is known about Alexander's activities after the Persian invasion of 480/79 BC, but Herodotus mentions, en passant, that a gold statue of the Macedonian King was standing in Delphi in his day (Hdt. 8.121), which undoubtedly boasted Alexander's role in the defeat of the Persian invaders in front of a Panhellenic audience at a time when Medismos had long become a serious political accusation. It is likely that Alexander expanded the boundaries of his realm following the retreat of the Persians, and he also became the first Macedonian King to strike his own coinage. Our example belongs to Raymond's group II, which she dated to 476/5-460 BC, but the emergence of a related oktadrachm in the Asyut hoard, burried around 475 BC, strongly speaks for a somewhat earlier date. These heavy coins were struck to the Phoenician weight standard and they were likely intended for tribute payments and 'international' trade. Most of them winded up travelling east, where they were, as the common practice of cutting them to smaller pieces ('Hacksilber') shows, usually treated as bullion. As a consequence, finding unworn and unbattered examples is very rare today and this sharply struck piece is, thus, a remarkable exception to the rule and a fine example of the earliest coinage struck by the Macedonian Kings. Starting price: 2500 CHF |  |
Match 1:
| Nomos AG > Auction 33 | Auction date: 9 June 2024 |
| Lot number: 1141 Price realized: This lot is for sale in an upcoming auction - Bid on this lot  | |
| Lot description: The Jonathan H. Kagan Collection of Ancient Greek Coins KINGS OF MACEDON. Alexander I, 498-454 BC. Oktadrachm (Silver, 33 mm, 28.84 g, 9 h), Aigai, circa 480/479-460. Hunter wearing kausia and short hunting tunic riding horse walking to right, holding two horizontal spears with his right hand and the reins with his left. Rev. AΛE-ΞA-NΔP-O around quadripartite square; all within a shallow incuse square. HGC 3, 1, 754. de Hirsch 1012. Raymond Group I, 1-3 ( Starting price: 6000 CHF |  |
Match 2:
| Leu Numismatik AG > Auction 15 | Auction date: 1 June 2024 |
| Lot number: 50 Price realized: This lot is for sale in an upcoming auction - Bid on this lot | |
| Lot description: KINGS OF MACEDON. Alexander I (?), 498-454 BC. Tristater or Oktadrachm (Silver, 30 mm, 29.47 g), circa 480s-470s BC. Horseman, wearing chlamys and petasos, holding two javelins and walking slowly to right behind bridled horse standing right, left foreleg raised; on the flank of the horse, symbol or monogram (?). Rev. Quadripartite incuse square. AMNG III, p. 49, 6 ('Bisaltai'). S. Brackmann: Alexandros I. oder Bisaltai, in: JNG 65 (2015), pp. 1-8. HGC 3.1, 753. Peykov A3020 ('Bisaltai'). Raymond pl. II, 5. SNG ANS 1. SNG Lockett 1266 ('Bisaltai'). Svoronos, HPM, pl. XII, 6 ('Bisaltai'). Tzamalis, Ethné, Groupe B.2., 129 and pl. 28, 129 (this coin, D51/R52). Very rare. A beautifully toned and unusually well struck example with a fine pedigree. Minor doubling on the obverse and with light scratches on the reverse, otherwise, very fine. Ex Classical Numismatic Auctions 1, 1 May 1987, 30, Sternberg XIV, 24-25 May 1984, 65, Leu 28, 5 May 1981, 72 and Münzen & Medaillen AG XIX, 5 June 1959, 384 ('Magnifique example d'art archaïque, rustique et spontané. D'une grande rareté.'). Given that both the Bisaltai and Alexander I issued this type with the addition of an ethnikon or royal name, the attribution of anonymous pieces like ours remains contentious. Brackmann highlighted reverse die links to pieces bearing the name of the Bisaltai tribe, yet this merely suggests that the coins were produced in the same mint, not that they were issued by and for the Bisaltai, as he himself admits. Many scholars perceive the lack of inscription as suggesting an early production date for the coins. However, it is possible that these coins represent alliance coinages between the Macedonian King and the tribal community, with deliberate omission of names for political expediency. We have adopted the more common attribution to Alexander I here, albeit with a lingering question mark since consensus regarding their origin has yet to be reached. What remains undeniable, however, is that these impressive large silver coins - whether tristaters or oktadrachms - fit well within the broader context of minting large silver denominations in the Thracian-Macedonian region, as previously discussed in the commentary on lot number 40 above. Estimate: 7500 CHF |  |
Match 3:
| Eid Mar Auctions GmbH > Auction 3 | Auction date: 11 May 2024 |
| Lot number: 46 Price realized: To Be Posted | |
| Lot description: Greek Kings of Macedon. Alexander I 498-454 BC. AR Tetrobol (15mm. 2,24g), c. 492-480/479. Rider, wearing petasos and long tunic, and holding two transverse spears with his left hand, on horse walking to right. Rev. Quadripartite incuse square. Raymond pl. II, 21. SNG ABC 12. SNG ANS 7. SNG Lockett 1268. Very Fine. Coins of this type have been traditionally ascribed to the Bisaltai, but, as noted in the SNG ABC, it is almost certainly an early, uninscribed issue of Alexander I. Very rare. Estimate: 100 EUR Starting price: 80 EUR |  |
Match 4:
| Leu Numismatik AG > Web Auction 29 | Auction date: 24 February 2024 |
| Lot number: 673 Price realized: 650 CHF (Approx. 738 USD / 682 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: KINGS OF PERGAMON. Attalos I, 241-197 BC. Tetradrachm (Silver, 31 mm, 16.98 g, 12 h), circa 235-215/0. Laureate head of Philetairos to right. Rev. ΦIΛETAIΡOΥ Athena enthroned left, resting her left elbow on shield and crowning dynastic name with a wreath held in her right hand; in background, spear; to outer left, star; to inner left, monogram of AΙ; to right, bow. SNG Paris -. Westermark Group VI.B. Very rare. Minor marks and faint scratches and the obverse struck slightly off center, otherwise, very fine. From a European collection, formed before 2005. Starting price: 200 CHF |  |
Match 5:
| Leu Numismatik AG > Web Auction 29 | Auction date: 24 February 2024 |
| Lot number: 674 Price realized: 1,100 CHF (Approx. 1,249 USD / 1,154 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: KINGS OF PERGAMON. Attalos I, 241-197 BC. Tetradrachm (Silver, 30 mm, 16.78 g, 12 h), circa 235-215/0. Laureate head of Philetairos to right. Rev. ΦIΛETAIΡOΥ Athena enthroned left, resting her left elbow on shield and crowning dynastic name with a wreath held in her right hand; in background, spear; to outer left, palm frond; to inner left, monogram of ΔΙ; to right, bow. BMC 41. SNG Paris -. Westermark Group VI.B. Well struck and with a fine portrait. Minor marks and faint scratches and the obverse struck slightly off center, otherwise, good very fine. From a European collection, formed before 2005. Starting price: 250 CHF |  |
