Heritage World Coin Auctions
ANA Signature Sale 3056 3 Aug 2017
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MACEDONIAN KINGDOM. Alexander III the great (336-323 BC). AR tetradrachm (25mm, 17.00 gm, 3h). NGC AU★ 5/5 - 4/5. Late lifetime or early posthumous issue of Pella, ca. 323-317 BC. Head of Heracles left, wearing lion skin headdress / AΛEΞANΔPOY, Zeus seated left on high-backed throne, holding eagle in right hand and scepter in left, Θ below seat. Price 213. Moore 10–17. Demanhur 1601-3. Very rare, particularly so in high grade!
The reason why a relative handful of Alexander tetradrachms from the Pella mint were produced with a left-facing head of Heracles, as opposed to the dominant right-facing depiction, is not currently known. The same mint, during the same era, also produced Philip-type tetradrachms on the Macedonian standard with left-facing heads of Zeus, again a departure from the norm. The simplest explanation yet proposed is that a single die engraver at the mint was left-handed and found it easier to produce left-facing depictions.
HID02901242017
Estimate: 6000-8000 USD
MACEDONIAN KINGDOM. Alexander III the great (336-323 BC). AR tetradrachm (25mm, 17.00 gm, 3h). NGC AU★ 5/5 - 4/5. Late lifetime or early posthumous issue of Pella, ca. 323-317 BC. Head of Heracles left, wearing lion skin headdress / AΛEΞANΔPOY, Zeus seated left on high-backed throne, holding eagle in right hand and scepter in left, Θ below seat. Price 213. Moore 10–17. Demanhur 1601-3. Very rare, particularly so in high grade!
The reason why a relative handful of Alexander tetradrachms from the Pella mint were produced with a left-facing head of Heracles, as opposed to the dominant right-facing depiction, is not currently known. The same mint, during the same era, also produced Philip-type tetradrachms on the Macedonian standard with left-facing heads of Zeus, again a departure from the norm. The simplest explanation yet proposed is that a single die engraver at the mint was left-handed and found it easier to produce left-facing depictions.
HID02901242017
Estimate: 6000-8000 USD