Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XIII 23 March 2017
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Macedon, Philippoi AV Stater. Circa 356-345 BC. Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin headdress / Tripod with legs terminating in lion's paws, circular ornaments on top; ΦIΛIΠΠΩN upwards in left field, grape bunch to right. Bellinger, ANSMN 11, 33, 20. 8.63g, 18mm, 8h.
Mint State. Extremely Rare.
Originally a Thasian foundation, the town of Daton alternated between Athenian control for most of the fifth century, a brief period of local autonomy in the first half of the fourth century, and once more came under the control on Thasos in circa 360 BC when the local mines were recaptured with Athenian backing and the town was refounded with the new name of Krenides. Shortly thereafter however, in 356 Krenides was threatened by Thracians, and the citizens appealed to the rising power in the area, Philip of Macedon. Philip had conquered Amphipolis the year before, and he now took Krenides under his aegis. The city was strengthened greatly with new fortifications, enlarged with new colonists, and was renamed Philippoi in honour of the king.
Having gained command of the Mount Pangeion region and the 1000 talents a year in gold that its mines provided, Philip at first permitted the city to continue striking coinage in its own name, using types that it had previously employed, in both gold and silver - it is to this period of production that the present coin belongs. For a time therefore, the coinage of Philippoi must have circulated alongside Philip's royal coinage, however with the advent of Philip's currency reforms of the 340s, gold production at Philippoi came to an end.
Philip revolutionised the coinage of the kingdom of Macedon, which would eventually also supersede that of all Greece. Philip's brother Perdikkas, though he had initially struck a silver coinage, was later like his elder brother Alexander II before him, only able to coin in bronze. Philip now had prodigious quantities of not only silver, but gold too in measure beyond what his brothers could have dreamed. Before Philip, gold coins issued by the Greeks had been extremely infrequent, and struck usually only in times of great emergency. Philip's control of the Pangeion mines now enabled him to make Macedon the first state in the Greek world to issue gold uninterruptedly year on year, which he did with a new standardised Macedonian gold currency denominated in staters, hemistaters and quarter staters, as well as 1/8 and 1/12 fractions. This wealth would provide the driving force behind his successive conquests, expansion and diplomatic manoeuvres that enabled him to unify all Greece under Macedonian hegemony, and set the stage for his planned invasion of Persia.
As for Philippoi, following its incorporation into the Kingdom of Macedon, it would next feature significantly on the pages of history only centuries later when in October 42 BC, on the plain to the west of the city, the legions of Octavian and Marc Antony faced those Brutus and Cassius to determine the fate of the Roman world.
Mint State. Extremely Rare.
Originally a Thasian foundation, the town of Daton alternated between Athenian control for most of the fifth century, a brief period of local autonomy in the first half of the fourth century, and once more came under the control on Thasos in circa 360 BC when the local mines were recaptured with Athenian backing and the town was refounded with the new name of Krenides. Shortly thereafter however, in 356 Krenides was threatened by Thracians, and the citizens appealed to the rising power in the area, Philip of Macedon. Philip had conquered Amphipolis the year before, and he now took Krenides under his aegis. The city was strengthened greatly with new fortifications, enlarged with new colonists, and was renamed Philippoi in honour of the king.
Having gained command of the Mount Pangeion region and the 1000 talents a year in gold that its mines provided, Philip at first permitted the city to continue striking coinage in its own name, using types that it had previously employed, in both gold and silver - it is to this period of production that the present coin belongs. For a time therefore, the coinage of Philippoi must have circulated alongside Philip's royal coinage, however with the advent of Philip's currency reforms of the 340s, gold production at Philippoi came to an end.
Philip revolutionised the coinage of the kingdom of Macedon, which would eventually also supersede that of all Greece. Philip's brother Perdikkas, though he had initially struck a silver coinage, was later like his elder brother Alexander II before him, only able to coin in bronze. Philip now had prodigious quantities of not only silver, but gold too in measure beyond what his brothers could have dreamed. Before Philip, gold coins issued by the Greeks had been extremely infrequent, and struck usually only in times of great emergency. Philip's control of the Pangeion mines now enabled him to make Macedon the first state in the Greek world to issue gold uninterruptedly year on year, which he did with a new standardised Macedonian gold currency denominated in staters, hemistaters and quarter staters, as well as 1/8 and 1/12 fractions. This wealth would provide the driving force behind his successive conquests, expansion and diplomatic manoeuvres that enabled him to unify all Greece under Macedonian hegemony, and set the stage for his planned invasion of Persia.
As for Philippoi, following its incorporation into the Kingdom of Macedon, it would next feature significantly on the pages of history only centuries later when in October 42 BC, on the plain to the west of the city, the legions of Octavian and Marc Antony faced those Brutus and Cassius to determine the fate of the Roman world.