Heritage World Coin Auctions
ANA Signature Sale 3041 Sess. 4 13 August 2015
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THRACIAN KINGDOM. Lysimachus (305-281 BC). AR tetradrachm (28mm, 17.17 gm, 10h). Uncertain mint in Thrace, ca. 298-281 BC. Head of the Deified Alexander right, diademed and wearing horn of Ammon / ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΛΥΣΙΜΑΞΟΥ, Athena enthroned left, holding Nike and resting left elbow on shield, spear resting to her right, monograms in inner left field, below and above Athena's arm. Thompson --. Muller --, cf. 303 (Uncertain Thrace, similar upper monogram within wreath). Apparently a completely unrecorded set of symbols. Well struck in sculptural high relief, with a powerful portrait and a fine rendering of Athena. Attractively toned. NGC AU★ 5/5 - 5/5, Fine Style.Alexander the Great's meteoric 13-year career of conquest left the classical world profoundly transformed by the time of his premature death in 323 BC. In the immediate aftermath, Alexander's generals carved up his immense new empire into spheres of influence, although maintaining the fiction of a unified leadership. Territorial disputes soon led to civil wars, with the rival warlords contending for supreme power. Chief among these was Lysimachus, who at various times controlled Thrace, Macedon and much of Asia Minor. For the obverse of his silver his coinage, Lysimachus claimed the mantle of Alexander by choosing the image of the conqueror himself, now shown as a god wearing the ram's horn of the Greco-Egyptian deity Ammon. The image is one of the earliest true portraits to appear on a coin, and one of the finest. The reverse, depicting Athena enthroned, likewise proved extremely influential throughout history, forming the archetype for the figure of Britannia on modern English coins.
Estimate: 4000-5000 USD
THRACIAN KINGDOM. Lysimachus (305-281 BC). AR tetradrachm (28mm, 17.17 gm, 10h). Uncertain mint in Thrace, ca. 298-281 BC. Head of the Deified Alexander right, diademed and wearing horn of Ammon / ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΛΥΣΙΜΑΞΟΥ, Athena enthroned left, holding Nike and resting left elbow on shield, spear resting to her right, monograms in inner left field, below and above Athena's arm. Thompson --. Muller --, cf. 303 (Uncertain Thrace, similar upper monogram within wreath). Apparently a completely unrecorded set of symbols. Well struck in sculptural high relief, with a powerful portrait and a fine rendering of Athena. Attractively toned. NGC AU★ 5/5 - 5/5, Fine Style.Alexander the Great's meteoric 13-year career of conquest left the classical world profoundly transformed by the time of his premature death in 323 BC. In the immediate aftermath, Alexander's generals carved up his immense new empire into spheres of influence, although maintaining the fiction of a unified leadership. Territorial disputes soon led to civil wars, with the rival warlords contending for supreme power. Chief among these was Lysimachus, who at various times controlled Thrace, Macedon and much of Asia Minor. For the obverse of his silver his coinage, Lysimachus claimed the mantle of Alexander by choosing the image of the conqueror himself, now shown as a god wearing the ram's horn of the Greco-Egyptian deity Ammon. The image is one of the earliest true portraits to appear on a coin, and one of the finest. The reverse, depicting Athena enthroned, likewise proved extremely influential throughout history, forming the archetype for the figure of Britannia on modern English coins.
Estimate: 4000-5000 USD