| Leu Numismatik AG > Web Auction 29 | Auction date: 24 February 2024 |
| Lot number: 469 Price realized: 7,000 CHF (Approx. 7,946 USD / 7,342 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: KINGS OF MACEDON. Alexander III 'the Great', 336-323 BC. Tetradrachm (Silver, 27 mm, 17.24 g, 6 h), struck under Nikokles. Paphos, circa 325-317. Head of Herakles to right, wearing lion skin headdress; in tiny letters, hidden within the lion's mane to left, ΝΙΚΟΚΛΕΟΥΣ. Rev. ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ - ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ Zeus seated left on low throne, holding long scepter in his left hand and, in his right, eagle standing right with closed wings; to left, monogram of ΠΑΦ. Price 3118. Very rare and among the finest known examples of for this historically important issue, with a boldly struck head of Herakles and an exceptionally well readable name of the Cypriote king. Harshly cleaned and with light doubling on the reverse, otherwise, good extremely fine. From an American collection. Nikokles succeeded his father, Timarchos, to the throne of Paphos in 325. His father had been one of the Cypriot kings who assisted Alexander in his siege of Tyre, for which he was allowed to keep his kingdom. After Alexander's death, Ptolemy I gained control of Cyprus, and Nikokles initially supported him in his fight against both Perdikkas and Antigonos I Monophthalmos. However, in 310 Ptolemy abolished all of the Cypriot kingdoms, and Nikokles secretly aligned himself with Antigonos as a result. When Ptolemy discovered the plot, he sent his friends, Argaios and Kallikrates, to Paphos, who surrounded the palace with troops borrowed from the general, Menelaos, and insisted that Nikokles commit suicide. The former king and his brothers hung themselves, after which his wife reportedly killed their unwed daughters, not wishing them to fall into the hands of the Macedonian soldiers. Then, she and her sisters-in-law set the palace alight, all perishing in the flames. This beautifully preserved tetradrachm of Nikokles is highly interesting for the fact that hidden within the lion's mane, in tiny letters, can be found the name 'Nikokles', NIKOKΛEOYΣ. Because it appears on at least seven different dies of significantly varying style, it cannot be the name of the die engraver; thus, it must be the name of King Nikokles himself! One might question why Nikokles hid his name in the lion's mane while on other types his name appears openly (see, for example, the extremely rare Persic standard distaters, where the reverse boldly claims NIKOKΛEOYΣ ΠΑΦΙΟΝ, cf. A.-P. C. Weiss: The Persic Distaters of Nikokles Revisited, in: Studies BCD). Weiss suspects that these Alexandrine tetradrachms with the hidden name were struck during Ptolemy's war against the cities of Kition and Marion, where the Ptolemaic king received assistance from Nikokles, and that the Paphian king wished to minimize his involvement in the eyes of Cyprus' inhabitants. But then why not omit his name entirely, as was the case with almost all other Cypriote tetradrachms issued in Alexander's name? Starting price: 750 CHF |  |
Match 1:
| Leu Numismatik AG > Web Auction 29 | Auction date: 24 February 2024 |
| Lot number: 170 Price realized: 280 CHF (Approx. 318 USD / 294 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: KINGS OF MACEDON. Alexander III 'the Great', 336-323 BC. Tetradrachm (Silver, 27 mm, 17.18 g, 6 h), Amphipolis, struck under Kassander, circa 307-297. Head of Herakles to right, wearing lion skin headdress. Rev. AΛEΞANΔPOY Zeus seated left on low throne, holding long scepter in his left hand and eagle standing right with closed wings in his right; to left, Λ above race torch; below throne, monogram of MHΓ. Price 447. Very fine. Starting price: 75 CHF |  |
Match 2:
| Leu Numismatik AG > Web Auction 28 | Auction date: 9 December 2023 |
| Lot number: 967 Price realized: 300 CHF (Approx. 341 USD / 317 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: KINGS OF MACEDON. Alexander III 'the Great', 336-323 BC. Tetradrachm (Silver, 27 mm, 17.07 g, 8 h), Babylon, under Seleukos I, circa 311-300. Head of Herakles to right, wearing lion skin headdress. Rev. ΒAΣIΛEΩΣ - AΛEΞANΔPOY Zeus seated left on low throne, holding long scepter in his left hand and eagle standing right with closed wings in his right; to left, H; below throne, monogram within wreath. Price 3708. SC 82.7. Light marks, otherwise, very fine. From a European collection, formed before 2005. Starting price: 50 CHF |  |
Match 3:
| Leu Numismatik AG > Web Auction 28 | Auction date: 9 December 2023 |
| Lot number: 969 Price realized: 260 CHF (Approx. 296 USD / 274 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: KINGS OF MACEDON. Alexander III 'the Great', 336-323 BC. Tetradrachm (Silver, 26 mm, 16.95 g, 6 h), Babylon, struck under Peithon, circa 315-311. Head of Herakles to right, wearing lion skin headdress. Rev. ΒAΣ[IΛEΩΣ] - AΛEΞANΔPOY Zeus seated left on low throne, holding long scepter in his left hand and eagle standing right with closed wings in his right; to left, monogram within wreath. Price 3730 var. (ΣΑ under throne). Harshly cleaned, otherwise, good very fine. From a European collection, formed before 2005. Starting price: 50 CHF |  |
Match 4:
| Nomos AG > obolos 30 | Auction date: 17 December 2023 |
| Lot number: 186 Price realized: 65 CHF (Approx. 75 USD / 68 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: KINGS OF MACEDON. Alexander III 'the Great', 336-323 BC. Drachm (Silver, 15 mm, 4.05 g, 12 h), Struck under Menander, Sardes, circa 324/3. Head of Herakles to right, wearing lion's skin headdress. Rev. ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ Zeus seated on throne to left, holding eagle in his right hand and scepter in his left; to left, ΞY monogram; below throne, rose. ADM I Series IX. Price 2553. Very fine. Starting price: 50 CHF |  |
Match 5:
| Leu Numismatik AG > Web Auction 28 | Auction date: 9 December 2023 |
| Lot number: 18 Price realized: 550 CHF (Approx. 625 USD / 581 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: KINGS OF MACEDON. Alexander III 'the Great', 336-323 BC. Tetradrachm (Silver, 24 mm, 17.17 g, 6 h), Amphipolis (?), struck under Kassander, circa 316-311. Head of Herakles to right, wearing lion skin headdress. Rev. AΛEΞANΔPOY Zeus seated left on low throne, holding long scepter in his left hand and eagle standing right with closed wings in his right; to left, dolphin; below throne, pellet in Π. Price 133. Boldly struck and fresh. Some porosity and with minor flan faults, otherwise, good extremely fine. From the James Knox Collection of Biblical related coins, ex Classical Numismatic Group Mail Bid Sale 87, 18 May 2011, 380. Starting price: 100 CHF |  |
