Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XIII 23 March 2017
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Kingdom of Macedon, Alexander III 'the Great' AR Tetradrachm. Tarsos, 327-323 BC. Lifetime issue, struck under Balakros. Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin headdress / Zeus Aëtophoros seated left, holding sceptre; AΛEΞANΔPOY to right, plough in left field, Θ below throne, globe at upper right. Price 3032. 17.31g, 29mm, 12h.
Near Mint State. Highly lustrous, lightly toned, well centred and struck on a very broad flan. A magnificent tetradrachm.
Prior to Alexander's arrival at Tarsos there was already a well established Persian coinage produced from that city by the satrapal governors of Cilicia, whose silver staters displayed the figure of Baal, seated and holding his lotus-tipped sceptre. Indeed, the depiction of this deity is in some cases so similar to the Zeus of Alexander's imperial coinage that O. Zervos and F. de Callataÿ suggested that Alexander's tetradrachms could not have been issued until after his arrival at Tarsos – that the Baal of Tarsos was the model for his enthroned Zeus. Though shown to be an improbable notion by Price, what is certain is that the engravers working at Tarsos were immediately re-tasked to producing Alexandrine coinage without any great break in production.
Balakros, son of Nikanor, was one of Alexander's somatophylakes (bodyguards) and was appointed satrap of Cilicia after the Battle of Issos in 333 BC. He enacted many new fiscal measures in Alexander's name, and served Alexander loyally until his death in circa 324 BC while leading an expedition against a revolt in Pisidia. In adulthood his three sons all served Antigonos Monophthalmos and his son Demetrios afterwards, and were honoured with dedications at the Sanctuary of Delos.
Near Mint State. Highly lustrous, lightly toned, well centred and struck on a very broad flan. A magnificent tetradrachm.
Prior to Alexander's arrival at Tarsos there was already a well established Persian coinage produced from that city by the satrapal governors of Cilicia, whose silver staters displayed the figure of Baal, seated and holding his lotus-tipped sceptre. Indeed, the depiction of this deity is in some cases so similar to the Zeus of Alexander's imperial coinage that O. Zervos and F. de Callataÿ suggested that Alexander's tetradrachms could not have been issued until after his arrival at Tarsos – that the Baal of Tarsos was the model for his enthroned Zeus. Though shown to be an improbable notion by Price, what is certain is that the engravers working at Tarsos were immediately re-tasked to producing Alexandrine coinage without any great break in production.
Balakros, son of Nikanor, was one of Alexander's somatophylakes (bodyguards) and was appointed satrap of Cilicia after the Battle of Issos in 333 BC. He enacted many new fiscal measures in Alexander's name, and served Alexander loyally until his death in circa 324 BC while leading an expedition against a revolt in Pisidia. In adulthood his three sons all served Antigonos Monophthalmos and his son Demetrios afterwards, and were honoured with dedications at the Sanctuary of Delos.