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Important copyright information:
The data below is presented by permission of the copyright holder(s). Reproduction is allowed only by authorization from Freeman & Sear.
| Freeman & Sear > Manhattan Sale II | Auction date: 4 January 2011 |
| Lot number: 32 | |
| Lot description: MACEDONIAN KINGDOM. Alexander III, the Great (336–323 BC). Silver tetradrachm (17.23 gm). Memphis, under Ptolemy I as satrap, ca. 323 BC. Head of young Heracles right in lion skin headdress, paws tied at neck / ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ, Zeus enthroned left, holding eagle and lotus scepter, rose in left field, moneyer’s signature ΔI—O under throne. Price 1371. Toned. Extremely fine Ex Peter Guber Collection; Star Collection. Alexander tetradrachms marked with a rose symbol and the letters DIO have long been admired as the most aesthetically pleasing issue of his coinage. They were struck in Egypt, probably not long after Alexander’s death on 10 June 323 BC. After this traumatic event, Alexander’s generals divided his empire among themselves, taking provinces which they proposed to manage as satraps (governors) for Alexander’s successor, his feeble-minded half-brother Philip Arrhidaeus. Egypt fell to Ptolemy, who immediately saw the potential for establishing an independent kingdom. He removed Cleomenes, the caretaker Alexander had left in place in Egypt, and appropriated the 8,000 talents Cleomenes had accumulated in his treasury. A part of this treasure was turned into new coin, like the present piece, and used to build an army and a navy. During his brief time in Egypt, Alexander had founded the city of Alexandria and had instructed Cleomenes to supervise its construction. Some authorities believe that the first mint of Hellenistic Egypt was located in the new city. However Ptolemy himself set up his court at Memphis, one of Egypt’s old royal cities, and did not move it to Alexandria until ca. 312 BC. The mint too was almost certainly located originally at Memphis and moved to Alexandria at the same time as the court. Estimate: $7,500 |  |
